Can A Fox Love A Bunny?
by JaysStories
Summary: Love has no boundaries right? That phrase is shown perhaps perfectly in Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde who, in the face of adversity, will suddenly decide that love truly does have no boundaries. Follow Nick and Judy as they struggle with their newfound relationship and its many implications along with the backlash they will get from much of Zootopia and even those they care about most.
1. Chapter 1-Blind

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act I-A Beginning

Chapter I-Blind

 **(Author's Notes) So, after having watched the film Zootopia, I was immediately astounded by the sheer amount of effort put into it, more specifically the characters of Nick and Judy. I was utterly blown away by the duo and found myself sucking just about every fanfiction for Zootopia there is.**

 **That being said, I soon realized that I wanted to write my own fanfiction on Nick and Judy. What follows is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction. Any and all feedback is thus greatly appreciated as anything that can improve my writing will serve only to improve anything I write in the future(although I intend to stick with this story for now until I finish).**

 **This first chapter serves to pave the way for everything in the future, bridging the gap from the movie into this story. It takes place about a year after the Night Howler incident shown in the movie.**

 **So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of what (I hope) will be a rather enjoyable story.**

 **I don't own Zootopia or any of its related characters. I am not making any money from this, it is simply for entertainment purposes. Please don't sue me.**

* * *

"I realized I was thinking of you, and I began to wonder how long you'd been on my mind. Then it occurred to me: Since I met you, you've never left."

-Unknown

* * *

 **Nick POV**

6:55 a.m.

The early morning spring air brought a chill to my exposed limbs as I made my way through the streets of Zootopia. The sidewalks were filled with various mammals making there way to their jobs. Just above the horizon, the sun slowly made its way up towards the center of the sky, barely making its way through the many buildings and skyscrapers that Zootopia encompassed.

My mouth opened in a huge yawn as I was reminded just how early it actually was. Today I wasn't wearing my signature green hawaiian shirt, tie, and khakis that so many had come to know me by during my life of crime. Instead I had donned my police uniform, as today I was heading to my job as a police officer at Precinct 1. It felt good to know that despite being a conman since the age of twelve, I was finally able to do something right with my life—all thanks to my dumb bunny.

It had been almost an entire year since I met Judy on that fateful day when I tricked her into buying that jumbo pop, and since then my life had done a complete 180. It had taken me 3 months to get through the academy but it was completely worth every second and every struggle. I ended up graduating top of my class, my desire to become better than my old self giving me the conviction to do my best. And at the end, seeing the happiness on Judy's face as she handed me my new badge, accepting me into the force, I knew I had made the right decision. For the past 9 months, I had been a police officer at the ZPD and partner to Judy.

I felt a small flutter in my stomach as I thought about Judy. I froze for a second wondering where the butterflies had come. Puzzled, I decided that it was nothing and took a long sip from the cup of Snarlbucks coffee in my hand before resuming my walk to work.

Judy and I had become best friends and partners ever since the Night Howler case. We often spent our free time in each other's company, whether we were going out to eat or simply watching a movie at my apartment. I trusted her entirely and she was one of the few people in my life that trusted and respected me despite my past and despite the fact that I was a fox.

I worked my way through a group of protestors in front of City Hall. In a recent attempt to promote the ideals of equality and non-prejudice the city of Zootopia was based on, a law had been passed which legalized the marriage of interspecies couples. Mammals of all different shapes and sizes, both prey and predator, seemed to be there from dawn until dusk protesting. I never understood what all the fuss was about; a mammal's love shouldn't be dictated by species or anything else. Love has no barriers. Although I haven't personally found the one yet, I knew that I wouldn't let anything get in my way once I did. I shook myself from my daydream and continued walking.

I smiled as I turned the corner and the monolith that is Precinct 1 appeared before me. When I first joined the force, it felt strange to walk to the one place that I had spent so much of my life avoiding. I had gotten over my unease after a couple months though and began to enjoy my new job fully.

I made my way up the steps of the precinct and looked up. The building was three stories high but each floor was 20 feet high to accommodate even the tallest mammals. Just above the doors of the precinct emblazoned in humongous, white letters, was the proud sign stating "ZPD".

Walking through the door with my lazy smile plastered on my face, I cheerily waved to some of my fellow officers and made my way up to the receptionist desk. Clawhauser, who was very happily munching away on a large bowl of sugary cereal, swallowed as fast as he could when he saw me. "Helloooooooo, Nick. How are you today?" he questioned enthusiastically.

"I'm great," I replied. "Hey, do you know where Judy is?"

"Yeah, she's over at your guys' cubicle."

"Thanks, Benji," I said before making my way to the cubicle that Judy and I shared. She always was an early bird, maybe it had something to do with growing up on a farm. I couldn't help but grin when I saw the tips of her ears peeking out from inside of our cubicle.

I went in and sat down at my chair next to Judy's. The bunny was busy typing something up on her computer. "Hey Carrots. Watchu doing," I asked her.

She looked up from what she was working on before replying. "I'm finishing up that report for Bogo." She looked utterly exhausted. Dark bags were beneath her eyes and her ears seemed to be drooping slightly involuntarily. I couldn't help but notice that she looked kind of cute when she was so tired. Her eyes seemed slightly glossy and gave her eyes a little shine while her nose twitched very slightly. She looked to be in desperate need of some sleep and care

I was broken out of my revery by the sound of her voice. "Nick. Nick!"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You just completely zoned out there for a second. Are you ok, Nick?" she questioned with a slightly worried look on her face.

I was slightly confused, I had no idea why I had zoned out like that. It had been happening rather often lately whenever I was around Judy but I put it off to the stress of work. Hopefully the upcoming weekend would solve that. "I'm fine," I said, "I think the real question is, are _you_ ok. You look exhausted, Carrots. How much sleep did you get?"

She looked at me dubiously when I told her I was fine but then sighed before answering, "I went to bed at 2. I was up trying to finish this report before I passed out."

I gawked at her. Normally I would be the one to put off an assignment, I couldn't believe Judy had been up until 2 trying to complete her report and was still working on it even now. "How on Earth did that happen?" I asked her wondrously.

"I completely lost track of time. My parents decided to call me and talked for almost two hours. By then I realized I hadn't had dinner yet and so I quickly threw something together. By the time I finished with all of that it was midnight and I was having trouble focusing on the report." She gave a large yawn as she concluded her story and turned back to her report.

She had it finished in another minute and pressed print. As she waited for the printer to print her report, she turned back to me and asked, "So, are you going to come out to the bar with us?" Several of the officers had plans to go down to a bar for a drink that night as it was a Friday and most of them would have off.

I would normally have gone but I decided that it would probably be best if I went home and got a good night's rest. Hopefully I would be able to cure the strange feeling and daydreaming episodes I had been having. I could've told Judy this but I didn't want her to worry for no good reason so opted to tell I was busy instead. "Sorry Judes, but I have other plans tonight."

"Oh yeah, like what?" she asked doubtingly.

"Just your average fox stuff with some of my fox pals, nothing important," I teased her. I didn't have time to make up a legit excuse right now and decided my best course of action would be to simply refuse to tell her what exactly I would be doing.

Judy, however, did not appear to be into letting up anytime soon. Looking for an escape, I saw that it was 7:13. "Looks like we have to go to muster now," I said pointing at the clock. Judy simply sighed grabbed her report before making her way to the bullpen.

I fell in next to her and after she submitted her report at the front desk we entered the bullpen, sitting on our shared seat at the front of the room. After a minute Bogo entered the room and shouted for quiet. "Alright, everyone shut up, we've all got things that need to be doing."

I leaned in towards Judy slightly and whispered, "Man, you know the chief's speeches always have a way a touching on a profound level." She stifled a small giggle which brought Bogo's attention to them.

"Wilde, Hopps, shut it or I'll give you both parking duty for a week. Now…" Judy looked rather angry as she looked straight forward listening to Bogo, refusing to look at me. I suddenly felt bad about making Judy so angry which gave me pause. I never felt sorry about the smart remarks, it was highly unlike me. So why was I doing it now. I decided that it was because I had hurt Judy, she was my best friend after all.

"Hopps, Wilde, you two have patrol of Sahara Square today," I heard Bogo's voice as I came back to reality.

"Yes, sir," Judy said behind me before standing up and starting to leave not looking at me.

I quickly stood up and began following her out. I caught up to her just outside the bullpen in the hallway. I wanted to tell her that I was sorry. "Carrots, wait—."

She rounded on me before speaking. "Nick, why is it that you can never just keep your mouth shut?" She crossed her arms and began tapping her foot on the floor, like a mother who was grounding her child.

I felt my ears droop and my tail tuck between my legs as I saw just how upset with me she really was. I didn't know why this upset me so much but it did. "You're right. I'm sorry," I said quietly, a resigned look replacing my usual easy smile.

Judy's expression softened as she looked at my pained reaction. She suddenly seemed to regret what she had just said. Her foot stopped tapping and her arms dropped to her sides. "No, it's ok. I just overreacted," she said quickly. She looked to be troubled and deep in thought before she said, "How about tomorrow we just do anything you want?"

My heart lept at Judy's words and I felt butterflies return to my stomach. What was going on with me? "That sounds wonderful." I felt my ears perk up and my tail resume swishing along back and forth behind me.

Judy looked happy again and said, "Come on, we've got a job to do." Feeling like I was walking on water, I followed her to the ZPD parking garage.

* * *

6:47 p.m.

Our patrol was nearing its end, scheduled at end a 7:30. So far nothing had happened, not even a single speeder or jaywalker, I thought. With the lack of activity, I had found myself lost deep in my thoughts. Every time Judy had tried to start a conversation I had zoned out again thinking about the upcoming day with Judy. I found myself staring at her often for reasons I didn't understand. Judy was worried about me and made attempts to figure out what was wrong with me. But seeing as I had no idea what was wrong with me myself I wasn't much didn't seem to believe that I didn't know what was wrong with me but didn't press too far.

Suddenly the radio on the console began to crackle. "Armed robbery on corner of Burrow and North streets in Sahara Square. All available units please report to the scene of the crime, " came Clawhauser's voice from the speaker.

Judy grabbed the radio transmitter and spoke into it, "Officers Hopps and Wilde, we are one block from the scene of the robbery, we're on our way."

"Roger that, Officers," came the reply. I put the cruiser in drive and started driving while Judy flipped on the flashing lights and siren.

We arrived at the scene not even a minute later and saw a raccoon holding a knife making his way out of what looked like a small pharmacy. We jumped out of the car and Judy quickly said into her radio, "Officers Hopps and Wilde, we are in pursuit of suspect."

"Roger that, Judy. You go get him."

We took off after the raccoon who was barreling through mammals, and brandishing his knife to scare others away. We gave chase to the raccoon slowly gaining ground on him. There was a time when running for any distance would have killed me, but after struggling at the academy I decided that I should start jogging. In the shape I was in now, I was able to keep up with Judy despite her naturally strong legs.

The raccoon suddenly looked behind him and saw Judy and I quickly gaining ground. His eyebrows lifted in surprise before he turned back around looking for somewhere to go. Suddenly he ducked into an alleyway between two buildings.

Judy and I approached the alley and saw that it went in about 10 feet before it turned off to the left. We entered the alley and took out our guns before rounding the corner. Judy hugged the wall as she turned and as soon as her gun had turned the corner, the raccoon smacked it out of her paw with a flat-palmed smack. I watched the gun fly through the air, hit the wall of the alley and fall to the ground. I quickly looked back at the raccoon to see him punch Judy square in the face.

My gun, which was raised pointed at the raccoon, went limp suddenly when I saw Judy get punched. Completely forgetting the armed robber standing in front of Judy, all of my attention became focused on Judy. I could see blood running from her nose matting her fur and she looked slightly dazed. My stomach clenched, as if someone had gathered all of my internal organs and was trying to squeeze them all into my abdomen. If she was hurt I would never be able to forgive myself for letting it happen. I would—

My thought was cut off by a sudden, searing pain in my arm holding my gun. "Fuck," I yelped, quickly dropping my gun and grabbing my arm with my other hand. My arm felt warm and sticky and I noticed it was dripping red. I looked up and saw the raccoon holding a now red knife. _The bastard slashed me_ , was all I could think before he suddenly went barrelling past me out of the alley.

With my arm, I was in no condition to give chase, and besides, Judy was still hurt. I knelt down at her side, "Judy. Judy! Are you ok?" I frantically asked.

Slowly she focused on Nick and managed to grunt out, "Fine." The blood was beginning to stop and she sat up. "Where's the raccoon?"

"He got away," I replied solemnly. I didn't know what had happened, normally my reactions were spot on, my years as a con artist having honed them to perfection. Why had they failed me so horribly this time?

"What!?" Judy exclaimed loudly as sat up farther, bringing me back to my senses, "How?"

I looked down at my arm, which was still bleeding, in response. It hurt but the cut wasn't very deep and the blood was a trickle, not a pulse so I was fairly certain that I hadn't cut any arteries.

"Oh my God, Nick. What happened?" she asked worriedly. She seemed to have completely forgotten her pain from moments before focusing all of her attention to me.

"He got me with his knife. It's fine though, it's not serious," I quickly added seeing her concern at learning I had been injured. "Come on," I said, "let's head back to Precinct 1."

I helped her up, retrieved our guns and we headed back to our cruiser.

* * *

 **Judy POV**

8:15 p.m.

I was worried about Nick. He kept zoning out and getting himself distracted and now he had suffered an injury because of it. Normally Nick never failed under pressure, even with his life on the line, he kept his cool and got the job done. Something was going on with him but every time I tried to ask him about it, he said that he didn't know what was wrong. Ever since the Night Howlers case we had been best friends, he told me everything, and the rare times that he didn't he tell me up front, he simply told me that he would when he was ready. But he never lied to me about something that was troubling him. As much as this made me want to believe that he was telling the truth, I simply couldn't fathom how Nick could have no idea what was troubling him.

I cared about Nick, he was the first one to believe in me after I became a police officer and I couldn't simply forget that. Moreover, we were partners and we needed to be able to trust one another, it was conducive to a successful partnership—and a successful friendship.

I had tried bringing up my concerns with Clawhauser when we got back to the precinct after Nick had gone to the infirmary to get his arm checked out. The only advice he could give was to let Nick tell her when he was ready. I knew he was right but it didn't stop me from worrying about him.

I was back at our cubicle finishing up our report when I saw Nick approaching me with a bandage around his right forearm. "Chief wants to see us," he said to me.

"What does he want?" I asked Nick. Surely we weren't in trouble, I didn't think Nick or I had done anything. Nick only shrugged in reply so together we walked to the far side of the precinct where the Chief's office lay.

 _Knock knock knock_

"Come in," came the slightly muffled voice of Chief Bogo from inside. He didn't sound mad necessarily but I knew better than to think that meant they weren't in trouble.

Nick opened the and held it open for me while I walked in. I heard him shut door behind me before he came to join me where I was standing in front of the Chief's massive desk.

"Sit," said the chief shortly, motioning to a chair that was obviously not made with smaller mammals in mind. Despite the fact that we both sat in the same chair, there was still extra room. "So," started the Chief, "Would either of you care to explain to me what happened out there today." His voice betrayed no hint of anger, or any emotion at all—but it was not a question.

I opened my mouth to begin speaking but Nick had already started. "Well sir, during our patrol we received news of an armed robbery in our immediate vicinity. We radioed in to gain permission to pursue, which we got, and then proceeded to chase the suspect until he made his way into an alleyway. We followed him into the alley where we were ambushed. Judy lost her gun when he attacked her, sir, and I just froze up," he said looking downwards slightly dejectedly. His ears were pressed flat against his head. It pained me to see Nick feel so useless, we were partners and best friends. Nick continued speaking, interrupting my thought. "I failed to react and he attacked me with his knife, that's this happened," Nick said gesturing towards his bandaged arm. "Then the perp got away," he finished rather lamely.

Bogo let out a long, "Hmmmm," as he thought for several seconds. "I see," the Chief's voice now had a barely detectable hint of anger in it that continued to slowly grow. "Well Officer Wilde, I suggest that you use the weekend wisely and _get your shit together_ ," his last words came out in a hiss that let on to the full extent of Bogo's lividity. "And officer Hopps," he said turning suddenly startling me slightly, "I expect you to be more careful in the future. We cannot afford to let robbers best our officers like this." While the Chief was still rather irritated, his words let on a little to his more caring side. Despite his rather intimidating appearance, the cape buffalo behind the façade truly did care for the well-being of his officers.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

Bogo nodded, " I also want you to help figure out what's wrong with Officer Wilde, we need him in full form come Monday." His mood lightened slightly more as he said this. I nodded in response. "Dismissed," Bogo finished.

We left the office and returned to our cubicle. I helped Nick write his report for the day as I had nowhere else to be. I kept trying to question Nick about his condition but every time I got close he just made a stupid joke and changed the conversation. Eventually I just decided to give it a break and let him bring it up when he was ready. By the time the report was written and submitted, it was 9:03. Nick and I clocked-out for the day before leaving.

The way to my apartment followed the same route as Nick's being only 3 blocks closer to the precinct. Because of this, Nick and I always walked home with each other after work.

After a minute of walking we passed a group of mammals protesting against the new law legalizing interspecies marriage outside of Town Hall. Back in the highly conservative Bunny Burrows almost everyone was against interspecies couples. Despite this, I personally had no problems with two members of different species who loved each other. After all, in Zootopia, anyone can be, or do, anything. I snapped out of my line of thought as we made our way out of the crowd.

After another minute or so I asked Nick, "Are you sure you're not coming out tonight? Surely your 'fox stuff' can wait a night," I joked.

Nick chuckled silently before answering, "I'm sure, after all, if my pals learned I was ditching them for a bunny, they might just be tempted to eat you," he gave me a sly grin at his own wit before continuing, "Besides, I have to rest up for our day-of-fun tomorrow. Hey, what do you say we head over to the naturalists club tomorrow, huh," Nick teased nudging me with his shoulder and tickling me with his tail chuckling again. Despite his jovial attitude, I still sensed something slightly off with Nick. He still wore his sly smile but his eyes weren't quite right.

"Niiiiiick," I groaned only causing Nick to laugh harder causing me to punch him in the gut playfully.

"Oof. Watch it Fluff, that hurt," Nick was rubbing his stomach, wincing in pain. Now it was my turn to laugh at Nick. We suddenly arrived at my apartment and I began to walk to the door "See you tomorrow Carrots," Nick said.

"See ya," I replied before he continued walking to his apartment. McHorn had scheduled the meet-up at the bar for 9:30 giving me just enough time to change before heading over there. But, at the forefront of my mind was still Nick. What was troubling him so much?

* * *

 **Nick POV**

9:15 p.m.

Why? I kept asking myself. Why was I unable to act during the fight? Ha, fight, if you could call it that. I might as well have been a sloth for all the good I did. It was just that, after Judy got hurt, I was so scared for her that I completely forgot everything else. But why?

Ideas whirled through my head in a dizzying blur. The only one that made sense though, was simply how close we had become as friends. That must be it, I just couldn't stand to see my best friend in so much pain and danger. That's the only reason I froze.

I felt slightly better but something was still nagging me. Like there was a string tied to my back providing just enough force for it to hinder me and provide annoyance. I shook off the feeling as I approached my apartment building before entering.

* * *

Judy and I entered the alleyway in search of the raccoon who had robbed the bank. As we turned the corner, the raccoon lept out and suddenly there was a knife buried up to its hilt in Judy's chest. Her eyes opened wide at me in surprise, her mouth shaped like an "O", while her ears stood fully erect. Her face simply pleaded for me to do something, to help her, but it was already too late.

My soul was wrenched from my body as I saw the life slowly drain from her. I was falling...falling. Darkness pressed in from all sides, squeezing out all of the air out of my lungs slowly suffocating me. I had nothing...nothing left that I cared about. I might as well be dead.

Suddenly I bolted upright in my bed with my heart was pounding against my chest like the quick thumping of a rabbit's foot. My fur was sticking to my bed sheets and I realized that I was drenched in a cold sweat. I didn't wear any clothes to bed so my fur was sticking up at odd angles and my bed had a large wet mark.

I could hear the heavy pitter-patter of rain on the roof like a stampeding herd of deer. The rain helped calm me and slowly my mind turned to the dream I had just had. Judy had been stabbed in the alleyway, and it had hurt. I had felt like I would never be whole again, like I would never be _happy_ again, with her gone. She was, and always would be, the most important thing in my life.

And suddenly everything just clicked. The butterflies, my strange behavior, my daydreams—everything made sense now. I loved Judy Hopps, my wonderful, beautiful rabbit partner, with all my heart and I knew that I couldn't live without her in my life. How could I have been so blind? I had let my blindness keep Judy from me for a year, and I would be damned if I was going to wait any longer now that I could see the truth. Looking at my alarm clock, I saw that it was 11:28 p.m. Judy was probably still at the bar and so, quickly making up my mind, I decided that I was going to find Judy and tell her right now that I loved her.

I flew out of my bed and began to throw on my clothes from earlier that day which were thrown unceremoniously onto my floor. I payed no attention to my appearance, knowing I probably looked haggard and maybe slightly crazed but I didn't care. Only one thing was on my mind, _Judy_.

* * *

 **Judy POV**

11:24 p.m.

I sat at the far left end of the bar on a rather tall bar stool for a rabbit, absorbed in my own thoughts. To my right, the other cops were talking(or more like shouting) and laughing loudly amongst themselves, rowdily calling for more beers. The bar had a very rustic vibe with old, faded oak counters and matching barstools. On the walls hung numerous hillbilly-esque signs sporting phrases like "Gone Fishin'" or "I 3 beer".

But I wasn't paying any of my surrounding much attention, I was too busy thinking about Nick. No matter what he said, there was something going on with him, whether he knew it or not.

The same things kept replaying themselves over and over again in my head, the way Nick kept zoning out whenever we were together, how he had frozen when I had gotten attacked in that alley, the look of dejection on his face when I had scolded him for embarrassing me this morning, and how happy he had become when I tried to make it up to him.

Then I realized what all of these things had in common—me. And then everything began to fall into place. Nick was so hurt when I scolded him because he liked me and he felt like I hated him, and then when I tried to make it up to him he was happy because I wasn't mad with him. The reason Nick froze when I got hit was because Nick thought I was seriously thought and didn't know what he would do without me. And chances were that every time he zoned out he was thinking of me. He loved me.

The realization hit me suddenly as the implications hit me, my fox partner was in love with me. But did I love him? I had never really thought about it, he was a fox and I was a rabbit. I thought back to what my parents had told me. They had said that interspecies relationships were unnatural were predator-prey couples. They went against every good sense of moral values mammals had ever upheld.

Looking past this though, Nick was one of the first people I had met in Zootopia and despite his initial attitude, he was actually the first one to believe in me. When no one, not even my parents, thought that a rabbit could be a police officer, Nick had stood by my side and helped me do the impossible. Nick and I had been partners and friends ever since, we relied on each other and helped each other up when one of us fell down. I trusted him with my life and told him everything, he was a pillar in my life that held me up when I needed it most. Maybe I did love Nick.

My thoughts turned once more to what my parents had told me. But then I realized that this wasn't the Bunny Burrows 20 years ago, this was Zootopia and this was now and in Zootopia, anyone can be anything. Besides, hadn't a law been recently passed which legalized interspecies marriage, the world wasn't what it once was and if she wanted to love a fox then she could.

How could I have been so blind all this time? How long had I known this but not really noticed it?

My revelation was interrupted by McHorn who was seated next to me. "What's the matter, Hopps? You're being awfully quiet over there. Is something wrong?" he inquired a slightly worried look on his face.

I had made up my mind about what I should do before I even answered, "Uhhhhh yeah, I'm fine, but I just realized I really have to go now." I stood up and fumbled with my wallet before I pulled out a ten dollar bill and placed it on the counter even though I only owed five. I rushed out of the bar slamming open the saloon style front doors in search of my partner, only one thing on my mind, _Nick_.

 **(Author's Notes) Welp, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of what I hope will be a long and successful story. I will try (I can't guarantee anything) to upload a new chapter every week, I don't have a fixed date as of now but I'm thinking something like Saturdays or Sundays. Honestly, I've never really tried writing a full-fledged story of any kind before (except for a few very laughable attempts in 4th grade English class) but I decided to try again now.**

 **Anyways, that's all I have time for now, good night (or morning) everyone. This is Jay, signing off.**


	2. Chapter 2-You and Me Forever

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act I-A Beginning

Chapter II-You and Me Forever

 **(Author's Notes)Hey all, I just wanted to tell everyone how much I truly appreciate the support I got on the first chapter in my story and how much it means to me to see that people are enjoying the story so far. I'm sorry for the late upload, I've just been busy with Memorial Day parties and parades and such. I know how insatiable you guys can be when it comes to these stories (considering that I'm just about as bad as anyone else) and hope that I will be able to at least partially sate your appetites.**

 **One thing about this chapter; it will contain sex. So if you don't enjoy that or want to read about it, well...I don't know what to tell you because it's there.**

 **So yeah, without further ado, here is chapter 2 of** _ **Can a Fox Love A Bunny?**_

* * *

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close."

-Pablo Neruda

* * *

 **Nick POV**

11:33 p.m.

I ran down the almost completely empty sidewalk sidewalk in a daze, hardly able to pay attention to anything other than the thoughts running through my head. No more than five minutes ago, I had realized that I was in love with Judy, my partner and best friend, and that I had been in love with her for a while now.

Upon realizing this, I had quickly thrown on a white T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants before running out into the heavy rain. I was already soaked and I quickly began to regret my choice of shirt color as my red fur was now visible through the wet fabric. But I didn't have time to go back and change so I simply continued running to the cop bar that Judy was hopefully still at. I wasn't quite sure what exactly I would do when I got there but I figured that I would just wing it.

As I rounded the corner of a building, I marveled at how my epiphany was able to change my feeling for Judy so quickly. Just earlier today, I thought of her as no more than my friend and police partner. Now though, I saw Judy as something else entirely; she was perfect. Her optimism and constant cheeriness, her drive to follow her dreams and do the right thing, and also her ability to see the best in anyone all just brought a smile to my face. The longer I thought of her, the more I found that she was the most important person in my life. She was always able to bring a smile to my face and keep me in good spirits. She was the best thing that ever happened to me and I wanted her to be in my life forever.

With that thought, I saw Judy come sprinting around the corner ahead of me, her momentum almost carrying her into a lamppost. As soon as she saw me her ears perked up and her eyes opened wide. She took off in my direction at an even faster pace than before.

There was no one on the street around us giving me a straight shot to Judy which I took gladly, my paws slapping loudly on the wet sidewalk. I didn't know why Judy was running towards me but I didn't care. I slowed down as I got closer and began to speak, "Judy, I—"

I stopped speaking abruptly when a wet, little ball of fluff flew into my midriff wrapping its arms around me in a hug. I was momentarily winded as Judy tightly hugged my waist while she looked up at me with hunger in her eyes.

I opened my mouth as soon as I got my breath back to ask her what was going on when she moved her paws up to my shoulders and pulled me down so we were eye to eye. I stared deeply into her stunning violet orbs for a second before she violently pressed her muzzle to mine.

Without hesitation I began kissing her back with an equal passion, completely forgetting any past reservations about her intentions. I pressed my tongue against her lips which she parted eagerly, granting me passage. The taste of Judy in my mouth brought an eruption of flavor across my tongue. At the moment, I didn't even care to wonder about how long Judy had felt this way. Instead, I simply enjoyed the feeling of Judy's lips against mine and the was our wet fur meshed together as the rain washed over us.

After what must have been an eternity, we broke apart so that our faces remained inches apart. We were both panting loudly, trying to regain our breaths. Neither of us spoke, simply staring into each other's eyes.

I had never realized how beautiful Judy's shockingly amethyst eyes were but the longer I stared into their depths the more I fell in love with Judy, further amplifying the effect our kiss was having on me. I had never felt more alive than I did at this moment, my heart was racing and it felt like electricity was coursing through my body. "I love you," I whispered breathlessly.

"I love you too." We continued to stare into each other's eyes, neither of us speaking.

Suddenly her nose gave an adorable twitch which made me smile. Judy was the first one to break the silence, "How about we get out of this rain and go back to your apartment and continue this," she suggested with a sly smile. I saw something in her purple eyes that they had never shown before, lust.

I felt some ancient beast awaken deep within me at the look at the look in Judy's eyes. "That sounds like a great idea," I replied in a surprisingly deep voice. At my words, Judy slid her paw down to mine and interwove our fingers which were so disproportionate that the tips of her fingers only reached the the space between my fingers. She then gave me smile that almost made me faint, it was so cute.

"Well let's go then." Without another word she began to almost drag me back the way I came from back to my apartment through the rain. As we walked I couldn't help but wonder where Judy's feelings for me had come from and how long she had been harboring them.

* * *

 **Judy POV**

11:45 p.m.

I marched purposefully through the rain, half-dragging the fox whose paw I was holding and whom I had just spent several minutes kissing. When I saw him running down the street towards me I had felt a flutter in my stomach which only got greater as we got closer. By the time I had reached him it was as if my actions weren't even my own. I had hugged him like the world was about to end and then, after seeing him in his so-wet-it-was-see-through shirt and his dumb, stupid, adorably handsome face I couldn't help but kiss him then and there. The moment our lips met, I fully realized just how much I truly loved Nick. He made me feel like none of my boyfriends ever had before. I was happy around him and our kiss had awoken something in me that I could only describe as pure bliss. I wanted him to be mine.

Now we were headed back to his apartment and although I didn't know what was going to happen there for sure, I did know that I had no regrets. I didn't care that I was a rabbit and he was a fox, I didn't care what people would think of us if they found out, and I didn't give a damn about everything my parents had told me about interspecies relationships. The world was different now and interspecies relationships were legal, despite the criticism it may receive. I wanted my parents to accept my feelings for Nick but I knew I loved Nick and that was the most important thing to me.

I knew now that Nick loved me after his confession to me but I couldn't help but wonder how long he had felt that way. Was I truly so blind for so long, completely ignoring him while he struggled with his feelings? I made up my resolve and decided to ask him, "Nick?" I said while turning back to look at him. There was a flutter in my chest as I saw his chest once again through his drenched shirt.

"Hmmmm?" he replied lifting an eyebrow.

I turned around so that I was now walking backwards so that I could look at the handsome fox. "How long have you…"

"Been in love with you?" He finished for me. I nodded slightly so he answered, "Well, actually, I didn't really know until tonight. I had a dream that you were...stabbed in the alley," I could see that he was choked up thinking about his dream. "And then everything became clear; my recent, strange behavior and my thoughts. After that I left to find you so that I could tell you." He grinned as if recalling a happy childhood memory while he looked into my eyes.

I didn't know what to say, or even think really. He was having nightmares about me getting hurt. I was touched that Nick cared so much about me that he was genuinely worried about me. Then the other part of what he said hit me. He hadn't known about his feelings for me until just tonight either. It was almost like something out of a story book, I marvelled. It seemed that Nick and I were destined to be with each other, a notion that was proved further when my feelings for Nick skyrocketed once more. "Really?" I finally answered, "I didn't realize until tonight either, it all just suddenly clicked in my head. That's when I left to try to find you as well."

Nick thought silently to himself for a couple more moments before answering in what would have been an inaudible whisper were it not for my ears, "It's like we're meant to be."

"I was thinking the same thing." I gave him a quick peck on his lips before turning around once more, silently steering us towards Nick's apartment.

* * *

 **Nick POV**

11:57 p.m.

 _I can't believe I'm going to fuck a bunny_ , I thought to myself as we approached the entrance to my apartment building. If someone had told me a year ago that I was going to have sex with a bunny, I probably would have told them that they could go fuck themself. Heck, if someone had told me that a few days ago I would have thought they were crazy. And yet, here I was looking forward to what was going to happen in my apartment.

I took a look at the adorable bunny that had a hold on my paw and was pulling me through the door of my apartment building. The lobby of the building was rather small with a counter on the right wall. Across from the door was the elevator which we were headed towards. The receptionist, an old ewe, looked up from her book she was reading and looked slightly surprised. I realized that it must look slightly weird for a rabbit to be dragging a fox to his apartment. I offered a small grin and a slight wave but only received a frown in return. _Guess she's not one for interspecies couples_ , I thought.

Thankfully, Judy didn't seem to notice and we entered the elevator, shutting us off from the ewe and her judgemental gaze. I pressed the button for my floor and turned to face Judy who was standing against the wall. She was in a very sensual position with her paws on her hips. One of her ears was tucked behind her head while the other was bent forward at its middle. She wasn't wearing anything especially fancy, just a loose-fitting solid blue T-shirt and jeans, but she looked all the sexier because of it. She was still wet slightly wet from the rain and beads of water sparkled on her fur. The thing that really brought it all together though, was an almost imperceptible twitch in her nose that just drove me wild.

Unable to help myself, I leaned forward and placed my paws on the wall above Judy. She seemed so small with my larger frame looming over her, but she also looked at me invitingly. I obliged and began kissing her passionately again. She clenched onto my shirt and pulled me down further so that our faces were almost mashed together.

We were interrupted by a ding signalling our arrival at my floor followed by the sound of the elevator doors opening. We pulled apart and turned around to exit the elevator but were greeted by a surprised and disgruntled looking hare that I had seen a few times before. He seemed it have have just woken up but I wasn't sure if his look came from seeing two mammals kissing in an elevator or from seeing a rabbit and a fox kissing each other. I decided that I didn't care and said, "Hey, buddy. Nothing to see here, just your friendly neighbour, Officer Nick Wilde."

This elicited a frown from the hare which caused Judy to cover her giggles with a paw. I took a hold of Judy's paw and led her past the hare to my apartment. I spent no time in unlocking my apartment and holding the door open for Judy before entering myself.

While my apartment certainly wasn't what you would call extravagant or luxurious, it was definitely not something the average cop could afford on their pay grade. Luckily, I still had plenty of money left over from my conning days, the $200 a day that I had told judy being more or less accurate. I made sure to limit my spending and had plenty of money to pay for my current apartment for the rest of my life.

The door opened up into an immaculately clean living room(I can't stand untidy spaces) at least 8 times as large as Judy's apartment. A black, L-shaped couch lay back in the far right corner of the room with a low glass coffee table in front of it. A large flat-screen TV was mounted on the left wall across from the couch with a rather large entertainment system underneath it. There was an electric fireplace directly across from the door that was currently off. The room had a very homey feel that was completed by the terra-cotta colored walls. All of it was fox sized considering the room's only tenant was a fox.

Directly to the right of the door was a sizable kitchen with black and white tile floor. It included all essential kitchen appliances including a fox-sized fridge and an oven/stove. I had left a few knives and chopped peppers from the omelet I had made that morning. Judy may not have believed me when I first told her, but I was loved cooking and was very good at it. The counter which the remnants of my breakfast resided on also provided a transition from the kitchen into the living room.

My gaze swept back to the left wall where the door to my bedroom was before I saw Judy's slightly gaping mouth. I suddenly remembered that Judy had never actually been into my apartment before. I always made sure to meet her outside when we decided to go out together so that Judy wouldn't realize be jealous of my living space.

A slightly awkward silence ensued which I broke by saying, "So, welcome to chez Wilde."

"Nick," Judy said incredulously, "you never told me you had such a large apartment. How can you even afford this?"

I rubbed my neck with my paw awkwardly. I had never told Judy how much money I still had from my conning days. After convincing me to pay off all of my taxes she had never brought up my financial situation again. "Well...from the money I got selling pawpsicles," I answered rather sheepishly.

"I thought you paid off all your taxes!" She gave me a sharp jab in my ribs.

"I did, I did. I just have a lot left over." I whined past the pain from my abdomen. Judy just shook her head disbelievingly but relented.

"How come you've never showed me your apartment before now?" She finally asked

"I just...didn't want you to be jealous," I mumbled honestly, albeit quietly.

"Well, I most certainly am jealous," she said taking a step forward. I was confused about where she was going with this but she continued before I could ponder her words too long, "My apartment is much too small to do something like this." As soon as the last word left her mouth, I felt a pressure on my leg and suddenly found myself lying recumbent on the floor with Judy straddling my waist, her lips pressed to mine.

Her taste filled my mouth again as I gave her tongue passage into my mouth. I detected a change in Judy's normal scent of soap and flowers into something more musky and primal. I felt a pressure against the inside of my pants and I let out a slight groan through our kiss.

Judy pulled away at the sound of my pleasure. "Do you like that, Nicky?"

"Mmph, I love it. I love you." I began kissing her again but she pulled away.

"Why don't we go to the bedroom first," it was a command more than a question. She slid off of my waist and pulled me up by my paw. I let her lead me to the bedroom which she promptly opened before entering.

My bedroom consisted of a king-sized bed on the center of the back wall with an end table on either side against the wall. On the left side of the room I had a large dresser next to the door to my closet. The right wall was empty save for a landscape painting of a cozy cabin on a mountainside and a door to the bathroom.

Judy didn't any time to take in the scenery and only led me over to the bed. She threw me past her so that I was lying on the bed and once again got up herself to straddle me. She began to kiss me again while running her paws through the mostly dry fur on the sides of my face and neck. The pressure in my pants intensified at Judy's passion.

I began to play with her ears and Judy let out a gasp, pulling away from the kiss. "You like that?" I asked her.

She nodded while she kept her eyes closed, looking like she was in heaven, "My ears are very sensitive."

"Hmmmmmmm, interesting," I hummed while I continued playing with her ears with one paw while the other began to slide down her back. Her back arched as my paw slid by before coming to rest on her rump. I gave it a light squeeze," I love your body, Fluff," I told her. I truly did love it, she was perfection in my eyes.

Her only response was to resume kissing me. I continued to caress her ears and butt while we kissed. After a minute of kissing Judy broke apart again and she stared at me like she was trying to psych herself out to go skydiving. After barely five seconds though, she began to take off her shirt with a purpose and passion. As she lifted her shirt up past her chest, I discovered that she had no bra on underneath her shirt, giving me a full view of her breasts which I stared at deeply. Her two mounds were a slightly lighter shade of grey from the rest of her body with two pink nipples each. The cleavage between her breasts however, was a white cream color which continued down to cover her whole belly.

I had dated several vixens before and had seen plenty of them without a shirt before and, although Judy's breasts were smaller than those of any of my previous girlfriends, the difference was not very noticeable and quite frankly, I didn't care. This was Judy and I loved her more than I had ever loved anyone else before just the way she was already. Judy however took my staring to be something else and said, "They're small aren't they?" her voice sounded nervous and unsure.

"Wha- no, _no_ ," I assured her. "They're perfect." I reached my paws up and cupped both of her breasts with either paw. All insecurities were washed away as she let out a surprised gasp. I grinned at her pleasure and began to run my claw through the fur around her nipple on her left breast. I teased her for another couple seconds before I moved on to her nipple. Judy started to gasp and moan more as I played pinched and rubbed her nipple, switching from one to the other every once and awhile.

After about a minute, I grabbed Judy and pulled her body down to mine so that her breasts were over top of my face. I began to lick and suck on Judy's nipples, occasionally offering a small nip, earning louder, more persistent moans of desire. "Do you like that?" I asked her when I finally pulled my muzzle away for a second.

"Don't stop, you dumb fox," she whined. I chuckled but went back to my work.. I continued until Judy sat back up and began to pull my shirt up over my head. I sat up and helped her take my shirt off. Once it was off, Judy buried her face into my chest emitting a purr and rubbing her paws through my chest fur.

"Your chest is so much softer and fluffier than the rest of you," came her muffled voice from my chest. "Other than your tail," she added as she began to stroke my tail, which was off to one of my sided, with one of her paws. The gesture was very arousing and I let out a long _mmmmm_ without thinking.

"Really, your tail?" She said smugly, lifting her head off my chest. I just shrugged at her causing her to giggle before she planted a kiss on my lips. She worked her way down my body, planting kisses all the way. She went from my face to my neck down to my chest where she lingered momentarily before continuing her journey down to the waist of my pants. She hesitated at the top of my pants as she stared at the small yet noticeable bulge in my pants, unsure of what to do. I helped her by beginning to lower my pants. She took back control before they passed my member and pulled the damp sweatpants completely off.

She turned her attention back to the bulge in my underwear but did nothing more than stare. "I'm sorry," she said nervously, "I've never actually gone this far with any of my boyfriends before."

"It's ok, Carrots," I comforted, "I don't really care, I won't judge you. I love you." To be honest, I had only gone so far with my previous girlfriends. Foxes mate for life and I was never ready to go all the way, instead I made do with activities short of actual sex. I knew that I was ready to go all the way with Judy now, though.

Judy was still reserved but reached out a paw to squeeze my member anyway. At her touch, I involuntarily thrust my hips up slightly. Judy smiled at my reaction and seemed to be reassured. She squeezed and rubbed me through my boxers while I elicited pleasure noises for a little before she began to lower them as well.

She gasped at what she saw, "It's so...big," she finally said rather lamely. "Is that the…" she trailed off and I guessed that she was staring at the lump at the base of my shaft that was my knot. I realized that, to a rabbit of comparatively small size to a fox, my size might be slightly intimidating.

"It's fine, Carrots. If you don't wanna—"

"No, I definitely do," she interrupted me. She reached out for my penis tentatively and grasped it in her paw. I gasped when her paw made contact with my shaft and my breathing got shallower. For a second she kept her paw still but she soon began to move it up and down my length. The feeling of the pads of her paws on my dick was phenomenal. I let the waves of pleasure roll over me and closed my eyes, letting out the occasional whimper.

Judy seemed to be enjoying my pleasure and continued to move one paw slowly up and down my shaft while she began to stroke my tail with her other paw. She gradually sped up her movements until I clenched the bed sheets tightly with my claws. Judy noticed this and brought her movements back to a crawl. "Are you enjoying this?" she asked smiling.

"Yeah," I gasped.

"Would you like me to put it in my mouth?" she asked in a fake innocent voice.

"I-I would love that," I got out, slightly surprised. I couldn't believe this little farm bunny was so promiscuous.

Judy had me sit up against the headboard while she knelt between my legs. When she was in position, she lowered her muzzle to my penis and gave the head a tender kiss before putting just the tip into her mouth. She sucked on it lightly while her tongue grazed over my urethra. I moaned as her tongue continued to lick the head of my penis and she slowly moved her mouth farther along my length, taking more of me into her mouth. I could feel her long teeth run over my shaft as she moved down. She stopped when she reached my knot and made her way back up, sucking and licking my member the whole way. As she bobbed up and down I let out more gasps and _mmmmmmm_ 's of pleasure.

Pressure built up in my loins as her pace quickened until my entire groin was filled with an intense heat and pleasure. "Judy," I whispered through my pleasure. Her eyes looked up to meet mine. "I'm gonna cum," I told her. A spark appeared in her eye and her sucking and licking intensified finally tipping me over the edge.

"GAAAAHHH. JUUUUDY, AHHH, I LOVE YOU," I screamed in pleasure as I released my semen into her mouth while looking her in the eye. I released several jets as she continued to bob her head. She seemed to enjoy my semen as she swallowed all of it as it came without complaint.

When I finished she pulled her mouth off my still-hard cock. She kissed it before she crawled back up to my head and kissed me passionately. I broke away and said, "Ok, now it's your turn." This time I had her sit up against the headboard while I left a trail of kisses down her now bare chest to her pants. I went back up again and gave each of her nipples a nip before I went back to her stomach. I gave her belly button a lick which caused Judy to let out a little " _oh"_.

Raking my teeth through her fur as I began to unbutton her jeans. Once the button and zipper were undone I grabbed the pants by either leg and pulled them down off the figure of the bunny lying beneath me before throwing them aside. She was wearing cerulean colored panties which I bit into with my teeth. I used my mouth to pull them down as well while I ran my nose through her fur.

When I reached her vagina, I lowered my nose down and sniffed in deeply. "Nick! Ohhh, that feels amazing." Judy exclaimed from the feeling of air rushing into my nose. I then quickened my progress until her panties were completely off. I let them drop to the floor next to the bed.

Then, I slowly kissed my way up Judy's leg, her breath quickening as I made my way, until I got to her thigh. There, I switched to her other leg, licking and kissing but stopping right before I reached her crotch. I could feel a heat radiate from her folds. "Niiiiiiick," Judy whined suddenly, "I need you to stop teasing me and put your tongue in me."

"Of course, Carrots, whatever you want," I told her lovingly. I really loved Judy wanted her to feel good and so brought my snout so that it hovered just above her pussy. I looked into her eyes just before I plunged down into her depths. Her wetness covered the fur around my mouth as I pushed my tongue into her as far as it would go causing Judy to release a gasp at the foreign feeling of my rough tongue.

I kept up my probing with my tongue and brought one of my paws up and rubbed Judy's clit with it so that she gasped out in even more pleasure. It didn't take long for Judy to reach her climax and release her juices into my face while gasping, "Ohmigod, Nick," while she thrashed about. The area around my muzzle was drenched as I eagerly lapped up her juices.

When she finished I brought myself up so I was lying next to her and began to kiss her while we both caressed each other. I suddenly felt something on my still erect member and broke apart the kiss to see Judy holding it again. She smiled at me mischievously. "Judy…" I began. I knew that I was ready to complete this and make Judy my mate for life but I wanted to make sure that this was what she wanted as well.

"Yes, Nick."

"Are you sure this is what you want. Foxes mate for life, and I know rabbits do too—"

"I love you, Nick. I know that rabbits mate for life but I can't think of anyone I would rather be with than you. I want you to be my first time and every time after that," she stared at me endearingly. To prove this, she kissed me again.

I was touched deeply by her words, "If you're sure. I should have a condom in this drawer." I reached over to one of the drawers beside the bed and pulled out a condom from its box. I deftly pulled it over my head and rolled it on before turning to find Judy lying down on her back and spreading her legs apart as if in invitation. The way she looked with one of her ears tucked under her aroused me so much that I let out a low growl before I brought myself between Judy's legs.

I leaned over and licked Judy's neck and nibbled it softly so that Judy moaned into my ear. I stopped and brought my head so that it was right in front of Judy's. "Promise me something," I whispered, my breath causing the fur on her face to sway slightly. "If you feel any pain, tell me and I'll stop. I don't want you to be uncomfortable, I love you too much."

"It's ok, Nick. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me," she said to me.

I shook my head, I knew that I wouldn't _try_ to hurt her, but I needed to know that she would tell me if I did. It would cause _me_ pain to know that Judy was hurt because of me. "Promise me," I repeated.

She sighed, "Fine, I promise."

Satisfied with her answer, I positioned my member so that it sat at the entrance to Judy's opening. I finally fully noticed the size difference. Although my shaft should have almost no trouble fitting, my knot was rather large and I cringed realizing that it could hurt Judy, if it even fit.

Judy seemed to sense my apprehension and said, "Nick, it's ok, I want this." With her words, she grabbed my penis and guided it to her opening while staring deeply into my eyes. Between us a river flowed, full of love, security, and most prominently, lust. Encouraged by Judy's assurance, I bridged the small space between Judy and I and entered her with my head. We both increased our breathing together at our first contact but I continued to enter her slowly, not wanting to cause Judy any discomfort. I was convinced that Judy was fine since she moaned as I pushed farther and farther into her. The juices from her climax helped to make my entrance smoother and I continued to slip in without much trouble.

Then I felt the tip of my penis press up against something; I had reached her hymen. As carefully as I could, I pushed into her but she still let out a yelp when I broke through. Looking down I could see a small amount of blood that had dripped out onto the fur around her vagina. "Judy, are you ok?" I asked her tenderly, worry showing across my face.

Judy looked slightly uncomfortable but that went away moments later when Judy responded, "I'm fine, Nick. Please keep going." I was still unsure but did as she asked and pushed into her again. The whole way, I could feel the friction caused by the inside of her clutching my dick through the condom and I loved every second of it.

I stopped when my knot was at Judy's entrance, preventing me from going further. I gazed into Judy's eyes to show her my love before giving her an affectionate nip on her ear. Judy suddenly grabbed my chest fur then and pulled me down so that our muzzles were almost touching, our whiskers tickling each other. "Listen here fox," she said in a deep voice that made my chest tingle in anticipation, "I want you to fuck me hard. I want you to drive me _wild_ ," she said with a slight back-of-the-throat growl. I once again found myself taken aback by Judy's forwardness, what with her being a virgin.

Snapping out of my initial surprise, I used my elbows to prop myself up so that I was lying just above of Judy without crushing her. I started slowly, developing a rhythm as I slid in and out of Judy, stopping when my knot reached her lips and then pulling out until only the head of my penis remained in her before repeating.

Beneath me, the rabbit that was now my mate—my dumb, sexy bunny—was letting out small gasps and moans as I pumped into her. There was no sign of discomfort or pain on her face, something which relieved me and allowed me to let the waves of pleasure wash over me.

"Nick," Judy said between her moans beneath me. "I want you to go faster," she said. I just smiled at her and increased my tempo.

I felt myself slowly melt at the feeling of euphoria radiating from between my legs and spreading throughout my body. I loved the feeling my fur made when it pressed up against Judy's, meshing together to form a red-gray blur.

I grunted several times as the pleasure began to increase. The feeling was so great that it began hard to think about much else. A fogginess came over my mind so that all I could see was Judy and how much I loved and wanted her. The noises coming from Judy told me that she felt the same about me.

There was a sudden intense pressure build up in my loins and I could feel that I was getting close to cumming. "Judy," I said over the sounds of her moans, "I'm going to cum soon."

"Ahhhh. Me too," she gasped. "Nick," she said suddenly.

"Yeah," I responded as I felt myself grow closer to climax.

"I—oh—want you to put your knot in me," she shot-gunned between moans.

"Judy—"

"No, N-Nick, I want this. I-I want _you_. All of you, e-every part," she said while she shuddered from the stimulation. I was slightly taken aback by her words but they also initiated a flurry of butterflies in my stomach. Judy didn't care about the discomfort—she loved me. I let my inhibitions slip away and be replaced by my love for Judy. I would knew I would never hurt her.

"Ok," I said simply. I could feel that I was just about to cum and, just before I reached my climax, I finally thrust my knot into her. "OHHHH, JUDY. AHHHH, FUCK," I screamed as I released my semen into the condom. The feeling of having her vagina clenched onto my knot was easily one of the best feelings I've ever had. It was like Judy and I became one mammal, together.

Judy didn't show any signs of discomfort after I knotted with her, rather, she reveled in it. Her small form writhed beneath me as she gasped, "Niiiick, I'm cumming. God. You feel so amazing inside me."

As our orgasms subsided, I collapsed sideways, my knot forcing Judy to turn sideways so we were both facing each other. Judy nuzzled into my neck before looking up at me. "I love you, Nick," she told me lovingly.

"I love you too," I told her. "You know, you were amazing for your first time."

"You weren't so bad yourself," she teased playfully.

"Did I...hurt you at all?" I asked her awkwardly. It hadn't seemed like she was hurt at the time but I wanted to be sure.

"Hmmm, at first," she said thoughtfully, "But only for a second, after that it was just _heavenly_."

"Tha's good," I said and kissed her for a few seconds.

We should've done this sooner, my handsome fox." A sense of elation filled me at what she had called me. _Her_ handsome fox; it made me feel happy.

"Mmmmmm, sexy bunny," I hummed back, closing my eyes.

Judy burrowed her head into my chest fur where she purred lightly. We lay together for close to 15 minutes before my knot finally softened enough for me to pull it out. It came out with a wet _schliiick_. With my knot out, I was finally able to take off my condom which I put on the bedside table.

Afterwards, we both climbed under the sheets together. Judy laid down on her side facing away from while I spooned her from behind, her small bunny body being engulfed by my larger body. I hugged her in my arms and wrapped my tail around her. She hugged it tightly and said, "Goodnight, Nick."

"Goodnight, Judy," I replied before falling asleep.

* * *

 **(Author's Notes)Yeah, so that's it for this chapter. I hope it was all to your liking. I've never written smut before so please leave any comments, suggestions, or just general criticism in the comments. Anything that may help me improve my writing is greatly appreciated, I am doing this for you guys .**

 **Besides that, I wanted to say something about the plot of the story. As of now, I don't have any real plans for a big police case or anything like it. I may do smaller cases in the future just nothing too serious, if you think you would like this, please tell me. Instead, I have plans for the story to be more about the troubles Nick and Judy will encounter in the future about their new relationship, hence why the story is categorized as a romantic drama.**

 **I realize that to some, the relationship between Nick and Judy will seem rather rushed; I have a few things to say about that. Firstly, this is just a fanfiction and does not need to be taken too seriously. Secondly, I do have some justification for Judy and Nick's quick progression of emotions. They have been partners 9 months and, although neither of them knew it, they were in love with each other the whole time. Their feelings continued to grow until it accumulated into what you all saw in these first two chapters. It was sort of like they had actually been dating for those 9 months without realizing it, they already knew a lot about each other and cared for each other. That's the reason I'm giving for the whirlwind romance Nick and Judy are having and if you're not happy about it then that's too bad. Sorry.**

 **Again, I apologize for the late upload, I realize that it probably looks pretty bad to be slipping so early in the story but hey, life, it's a bitch. Anyways, see you in the next chapter, remember to leave comments with your thoughts, I want to see your guys' ideas. This is Jay, signing off.**


	3. Chapter 3-The Calm Before the Storm

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act I-A Beginning

Chapter III-The Calm Before the Storm

 **(Author's Notes)Hey Guys, as I've been writing the previous chapters, I've been upset (as have some of you readers) with the fact that there have not been as many Judy POVs as Nick. The reason for this was simply because I felt that the events in those chapters were often better suited to be seen from Nick's perspective. To remedy both mine and your own displeasure, this chapter will be nearly entirely a Judy POV if not 100% Judy. I hope that I won't neglect either characters in the future but I'm not going to force say, Judy's POV into a place where Nick would fit better.**

 **Also, this chapter will contain some fluff but a few parts are important to the future of the story—you'll probably see when you read the chapter. It will also contain a little smut but not quite as much as the last chapter, this is just because I think it makes sense considering what happened with Nick and Judy last night (and maybe, possibly because last chapter only took a look at the events through Nick's eyes...maybe).**

 **Other than that, I hope you enjoy this chapter, I really appreciate the support I've received, whether it be comments (which I DO read), or simply following or favoriting. I could only have dreamed that my first story would receive the attention it has. Maybe it sounds like I'm overreacting a little but people is a lot when you think about it, especially for someone like me who had no idea of what people would think of my story when I started writing it. So once again, thank you all so much.**

 **But I've held you from the story long enough, so here it is.**

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"Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner."

—Lao Tzu

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 **Judy POV**

12:47 p.m. Saturday

A soothing warmth radiating from a mysterious source caressed me from behind as I slowly made my way back to the waking world. For the first second, I wanted to flip over to my other side to find out what the source of the warmth was until I remembered last night. A smile cracked upon my sleepy face as I remembered what Nick and I had done after we both discovered our love for each other. With that memory also came a dull throb of not wholly unpleasant pain coming from my groin. I didn't find myself bothered by it too much though, the pleasure that went with it more than made up for it: All thanks to Nick. _My dumb, handsome, sexy fox_ , I thought as I snuggled myself further into his soft red fur, enjoying his presence and his warmth.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was already past noon, I would normally feel awful at having slept this late coming from a farming family, but I figured that the previous night's activities provided a sufficient excuse for my sleepiness.

Both Nick and I were still naked from last night, so our fur meshed with each other creating a sensation that sent chills up my spine. His tail was wrapped around me, as were his arms, in a loving embrace.

His tail was quite possibly one of the fluffiest things I had ever felt in my life. It was certainly softer than any bunnies she knew, _just another reason I'm happy I found Nick_. I began to stroke his tail, reveling in the feeling of his soft fur while I snuggled into him, when I felt something twitch on my leg.

I smiled, having a pretty good idea of what I had felt, and looked under the sheets to see that Nick's foxhood had stiffened once again. It was very big, certainly bigger than anything I had been taught to expect of a rabbit in her sex-ed class, especially with his knot. At first, I was very intimidated but I was sure that I wanted to at least try to have sex with Nick once. I loved Nick and knew that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life, and I would be damned if I wasn't going to try to have sex with Nick just because I was scared that he would be too big. And I was very happy that I had released myself of my inhibitions since, after the initial pain of losing my virginity, I had experienced the best feeling of my life which I was sure I would not have felt with any rabbit I may have decided to be with. Nick's knot felt especially good, the way it filled me up and the way we were stuck together afterwards, it really made me feel even closer to Nick and I would not have taken that away for anything.

Thinking about how Nick had felt inside of me last night, I felt a wetness grow between my legs, the discomfort becoming almost non-existent. The lust I felt last night returned to me but this time it was slightly different. I didn't just want to feel good, I wanted Nick to feel good.

I decided to turn around so I could look at the fox that was my mate in the face. As soon as I flipped myself over in his arms, Nick began to stir and wake up slowly. Eventually, he opened his eyes slightly and saw me staring at him, our noses almost touching.

"G'morning, Judy," he said with a wide yawn, "fancy meeting you here."

I smiled at his goofiness before I responded, "You're not the only one who's happy to see me," while I took a hold of his penis.

"Mmmmmm," he hummed, his eyes opening more. I played with him for a little until Nick started panting, his paws clenching and unclenching the sheets. I then went over to the same bedside table I had seen Nick take the condom out of last night and got a new one. I turned back and saw Nick now lying on his back while his head was turned to face me, his mouth open and his tongue lolling out. I snickered at him slightly, seeing the state he was in and what I was able to do to him.

I made my way back to him and, after a few seconds, managed to get the condom over Nick's penis by remembering how he had done it last night. Once it was on, I got up on my knees and threw one of my legs over Nick's body so that I was seated directly above his erect member. I lowered myself so that his member didn't enter me, but rather lay across my moist lips. I moved myself back and forth so that my juices covered Nick's penis, lubricating it.

Nick squirmed underneath me while I rubbed myself against his cock, obviously enjoying the feeling. "It looks like you're having fun," I told him.

"How could I not, unghhh, with a sexy bunny rubbing herself all over my cock," he said in a labored voice.

"Hmmmmm," I said, feigning thoughtfulness, "You know, I think I know something that you would like even more than this," I suggested grinning at Nick suggestively.

He just nodded to me, prompting me to lift myself off of Nick and reposition myself so he could enter me. I didn't waste much time with lowering myself onto Nick, knowing what to expect this time around. The remaining uncomfortableness between my legs went away quickly after that, there was just a slight throb that lasted barely a second and was quickly replaced by the pleasure of having my mate inside of me. I loved being able to call Nick my mate now, there was no other mammal I would rather have that title other than Nick and it now filled me with a giddy happiness to think about it. And it also made me rather horny.

Without wasting any more time, I began to move myself up and down slowly, rapidly gaining speed. Each time I went down, I would stop before reaching Nick's knot, knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to knot with him while I rode on top of him. But I was fine with that; it was probably best not to risk hurting myself further while I was still sore from our last mating session. Either way, I felt a build-up of pleasure radiating from my loins as I continued.

Nick made more grunts and moans of pleasure while I rode him, a fact that brought me intense pleasure. It wasn't long before Nick's breathing became extremely labored and his moans increased in frequency. I was letting out my own moans and the occasional sharp exhalation of air to show my own satisfaction. I was beginning to feel close to my climax.

"Judy, I'm...gonna cum," I heard Nick pant suddenly.

Inside of me, I felt his penis twitch and convulse. Knowing that Nick was coming, I was finally driven over the edge myself.

When I was done, I pulled myself off of Nick's softening penis and collapsed sideways so that I was lying down next to Nick. We lay there, catching our breaths and snuggling together for a few minutes before Nick wordlessly got up and went over to pick up the used condom from last night and throwing it away along with the one we had just used. I continued to lay in the bed, exhausted from last night and now this morning as well.

Nick began talking then and I looked up at him. I noticed his muscles which I had seen last night again. Since becoming an officer, his muscles had gained definition that was noticeable through his fur. He wasn't ripped but looking at him still gave me a thrill knowing that he was mine. "You go take a shower, the door's over there," he said pointing to a door next to a large painting of a secluded cabin. "I'm going to go make us some breakfast. I'll take one after we eat."

"M'kay," I said. I might have invited him to join me if I wasn't already so burnt out. _Maybe next time_ , I thought, getting shivers of joy thinking about it.

Nick then left the bedroom for the living room/kitchen to begin making breakfast. After he left, I slowly forced myself to get up and walk over to the bathroom door and open it. The bathroom was decently large, a short sink and toilet against the wall immediately to the right upon entry. Sunk into the wall opposite me was a rather large shower with a small lip to prevent water from spilling out. Finally, covering the length of the left wall, there was a fox-sized jacuzzi. I had always wanted to use a jacuzzi but I was in the mood for a shower at the moment and so made my way over the the shower and turned on the water, waiting to let it warm up.

Once I was comfortable with the temperature, I got into the shower and began to wash the scent of sex and sweat out of my fur. As the water cascaded down my shoulders and I lathered my body with soap, I couldn't help but think about Nick. He was absolutely perfect. He cared about me, even last night he had been scared of hurting me, and always put my comfort over his needs. And I truly enjoyed his company, he always knew how to make me laugh and make me feel better if I was sad. Yes, he could be slightly annoying at times, but I even loved that part of him as well.

Thinking about it now, I just wished that I could have realized my love for Nick earlier so that I would have been able to spend even more time with him.

I quickly finished my shower after having those thoughts, and stepped out to dry. I saw a large hairdryer hanging on the wall next to the sink and padded over to it. It felt clumsy in my small paws as it was meant for a fox but by holding it with two paws I was able to keep it still enough to dry me off.

Once I was dry, I looked around only to realize that I didn't have any clean clothes. Instead I just left the bathroom still naked and made my way to the kitchen. I saw Nick facing the stove away from me wearing nothing but a cooking apron that left his backside exposed to me. I couldn't help but stare at his toned butt for a few seconds before walking up behind him to see what he was doing.

He was busy flipping blueberry pancakes in one pan while some bugs sizzled off to the side in another pan. My nose wrinkled slightly in disgust at the sight of the bugs before I saw the bowl of fresh carrots next to the stove. It made me smile to think that Nick had also thought about me when making the breakfast.

Turning my attention away from the food, I said, "Hey Nicky, do you have any clothes I can wear?" I hadn't exactly intended to say 'Nicky' but it seemed to fit so I just left it.

Nick put all of the pancakes still on the stove onto a plate before turning around to me. "Yeah, sure. Let me go grab you something," he said and began to walk back to the bedroom. As he walked past me I couldn't help but steal a glance at his member. Even flaccid it looked kind of big.

He soon returned with a pair of black sweatpants and a solid grey shirt, now wearing a pair of boxers. I put on the clothes he brought me while he brought the food to the counter dividing the living room and kitchen. He set two plates and then sat down one of the chairs on the living room side that I had not been able to see last night. I took a seat next to him and eagerly took a bite of one of the pancakes.

They tasted fantastic. I figured that they must have been homemade but I had a hard time picturing Nick making his own pancake mix, or really cooking things more advanced than mac-n-cheese or pasta.

"Hey Nick," I said deciding to ask about his cooking.

"Yeah, Fluff."

"Where'd you learn to cook like this?"

"You like it?" he asked me. I just nodded, my mouth now full with another bite of pancakes. "When I was little, I used to really enjoy cooking with my mom. I really enjoyed it so she taught me all she knew about cooking."

As he said this, Nick seemed to grow sadder, like he was remembering a bad memory. I couldn't help but guess that something bad had happened to his mother. Just as I was about to ask he grabbed one of the bugs he cooked and took a large bite out of it. I must have given him a disgusted look because Nick suddenly said, "They're really good you know. You should try one." I could tell he was talking about the bugs but I didn't want to just let the subject be changed like this. _I suppose I can just ask him later_ , I thought. Returning back to what Nick had said, I came up with a deal.

"I'll try one if you try a carrot," I said figuring that I might as well get something if I had to eat one of the bugs.

Nick's brow's furrowed together as he stared at the carrots with distaste. "I don't know," he said.

"Awwww, come one. You'll make me eat a bug but you won't eat a carrot in return," I said teasingly, a smile playing across my lips.

That seemed to make Nick reconsider the deal. "Fine then," he said, "but you have to go first, I don't want you chickening out on me."

I rolled my eyes but grabbed one of the bugs and brought it up to my mouth. I hesitated for a second before putting it in my mouth, not wanting to look like a coward in front of Nick. I chewed it, waiting for the horrible taste to kick in and make me spit it out, but was instead greeted by a delicious flavor unlike anything I had ever tasted before.

Nick watched me with bated breath as I swallowed the bug. "Alright, it tastes pretty good," I told him grudgingly.

He yipped joyfully and said, "See! I told you," while I grabbed some more and put them on my plate.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said to him, "Now you have to eat one of these carrots."

"No I don't," he answered simply with his cocky grin on his face.

I felt anger and just a pinch of embarrassment rise in my chest upon hearing his words. "What do you mean you don't have to?' I snapped at him.

Still with his stupid grin, he explained, "You see, foxes are omnivores, we eat plants as well as meat. I've already had carrots before and I know that I like them," he said as he grabbed one and bit into it to prove his point. "Why do you think I had these in the first place?" he asked as he waved the carrot around in front of his face.

I was still mad at him but I could also feel a blush creep up my face. _I should have realized that_ , I thought to myself. As mad as I was though, I couldn't help but admire his cleverness at having gotten me to try a bug: just another one of the things I loved about him. Of course I wasn't going to tell him that.

"You know, Carrots, you look really cute when you're mad like that." Normally I would have been mad at Nick for a comment like that but instead I just felt a lightness in my chest that made me happy.

We finished the rest of our breakfast in silence and put our used dishes in the sink. Nick gave me a kiss on my forehead before telling me to look around if I wanted and heading off to take a shower.

I calmly sat at the table for a few moments longer, enjoying the tingling feeling left where Nick had kissed me, until I decided to get up. I turned around and walked into the living room, my eyes passing over the space, not taking too much in. I had been surprised last night to see how clean Nick's apartment was, although I hadn't had too much time to think about it thanks to the events that had taken place soon after we had got there. Still, Nick didn't exactly seem like a neat freak yet there was not one thing out of place in the room and even his TV remotes were all placed parallel next to each other on the coffee table.

As I heard the sound of a shower starting coming from Nick's bedroom, my eyes locked onto the mantle above the electric fireplace where several pictures stood. I found my legs moving me towards the mantle until I found myself directly in front of it, staring at the pictures. All of them featured either a young Nick or an older looking female vixen, sometime both of them together. I assumed that the vixen must be Nick's mother which brought me back to Nick's earlier expression when he had mentioned her. _Did something happen to her?_ I wondered.

It was then that I realized that there were no pictures of Nick's father anywhere on the mantle. _That's strange. Why would Nick have so many pictures of his mother but none of his father?_ Other than the time Nick had opened up to me on the gondola during the nigthhowler case, Nick rarely ever spoke of his family. I knew from what he had said then and from what he had told about cooking with his mother this morning that his mother he loved his mother, but he had never said anything about his father. The way I saw it, there were two possibilities; he hated his father for some reason unbeknownst to me or he had simply never met his father for one reason or another. Either way, it saddened me to think about how troubled Nick's childhood had been. It seemed that something bad had happened with his mother and he lacked a good father one way or another. He was also very poor, so much so that his mother had to work almost non-stop simply to pay for his junior ranger scout uniform which could definitely have not made things easier. Add to that the prejudices he faced with being a fox, especially during the muzzle incident, and I found it hard to believe that anyone could have had a worse childhood than Nick

I felt my eyes get puffy and tears begin to silently run through the fur on my cheeks when I heard the sound of a door closing behind me. I turned around to see Nick standing there in his signature khakis, green hawaiian shirt, and striped tie. I had been so absorbed in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed that the shower had turned off.

He looked surprised at first to see me crying but a quick glance at the pictures on the mantle behind me replaced his confused expression with one of sadness. He looked down at his feet, no longer able to look at my face.

"Nick," I said, my voice wavering slightly, "what happened to your parents?"

Nick released a long sigh before looking up at me. "Look Carrots...Judy...I do want to tell you...just not right now. This day has been pretty good so far and I don't want to interrupt it with this right now. I do promise that I will tell you though," he looked so sincere and innocent standing there. For the second time since I had meant, he had let down the emotionless façade and the many walls he normally kept up and let me inside. True, he hadn't really told me anything yet, but I knew he was serious about wanting to tell me. We were in this for the long haul now, mates for life, and knowing that Nick was willing to open up to me was enough for me for now.

"Ok," I said, "So what are we going to do today then?"

The smile returned to Nick's visage, replacing the sadness from moments earlier, "I was actually thinking that we could go to the movies together," he said cheerfully.

I thought about it momentarily, "Hmmmm, alright, but we're going to have to stop at my apartment so I can get some new clothes," I told him. I was not going to the movies wearing the slightly too big overly-casual clothes I was in currently.

"Ok," he said shrugging, "We have to clean up around here and get ready first."

The next half hour or so was spent cleaning the dishes from breakfast, brushing our teeth, and cleaning Nick's bedroom after last night. As I picked up my pants I had worn yesterday, I felt a rectangular object inside one of the pockets. Realizing that I had left my phone unchecked for most of the day I quickly took it out only to have my heart sink right out of my chest.

Last night I had silenced my phone before entering Nick's apartment, not wanting it to interrupt anything. As such, I had not noticed the 9 missed muzzletime calls from her parents both last night and this morning. _How could I be so stupid?_ I called my parents every Friday to catch up with them and tell them about my week. If I didn't they would most likely have a panic attack worrying about me, something that definitely seemed to happen if the messaging system in my phone was anything to go by.

How was I supposed to explain to my parents why I hadn't called or responded to any of their calls? " _Hey mom, hey dad, so sorry I haven't been answering any of your calls. I've just been real busy fucking my new fox boyfriend, y'know, my partner, Nick. Yeah, we're mates now, hope you guys approve."_ That would definitely go over well. I couldn't tell them about Nick, at least not yet, not like this.

"Is something wrong, Carrots?" Nick asked suddenly, looking at me worriedly. I didn't respond, I was freaking out. _Could I just not call them? No, don't be stupid, you can't refuse to talk to them forever._ Nick came over to my side and wrapped his arms around me in a warm embrace. His presence was soothing and I could feel my heart rate go down from the blistering pace it was at moments before. "Judy, what's wrong?" asked me. I looked up at him, the fox that I loved. His face was etched with concern for me and also love. He made my worries nearly disappear entirely; nearly.

"It's my parents," I said quietly, "I have 9 missed muzzletime requests from them and now I don't know how to explain to them why I missed their calls."

His expression brightened noticeably, "Really? That's what you're so worried about? All you have to say is that your phone died and you didn't realize or something," he said chuckling at me.

I felt myself blushing slightly, now I just felt stupid. "Shut up," I told him as he continued to laugh at me. He continued to laugh as I stood up and made my way out to the couch in Nick's living room and hit the icon to muzzletime my parents. Nick came out of the bedroom, no longer laughing, and sat so that he would be just outside the camera range of my phone.

The call was answered before the first ring had even ended and opened up to my mom yelling to someone beyond the edge of the screen, "Stu! Judy's calling!" before turning her attention to her phone. "Why haven't you been answering our calls?" she asked me sternly. I was about to answer her when she asked me something that brought the worry I had felt back in Nick's bedroom back in full force. "And where are you, it doesn't look like your apartment?"

I didn't want to risk a glance at Nick so instead said, "I didn't answer your calls because my phone died and I didn't realize it," so far so good. Without enough time to think of an answer for her next question, I decided to tell her the truth, "I'm at Nick's right now. Say hi, Nick," I said swinging my phone around to face him, glad to be out of the spotlight.

He didn't show any signs of surprise or discomfort, instead waving cheerfully and saying, "Hello, Mrs. Hopps. Nice to see you again." Nick had already talked to my parents over muzzletime a few times before, although he had never actually met them in person.

I turned the phone back to me and this time also saw my dad next to my mom. "What are you doing at Nick's house," he asked me, a puzzled expression on his face. He was breathing heavily and look sweaty, probably from working on the farm.

I wasn't sure how to answer his question. I certainly didn't want to tell them the real reason but I couldn't think of any other reason I would be at Nick's house on a weekend, especially with what I was wearing. I was panicking, I had to give them an answer but I didn't know what to say.

Nick suddenly appeared in the screen next to me, "We were just working on a case last night and we realized that it was really late so I just offered to let Judy sleep on my couch," he said to my parents, his tone betraying nothing unusual. I was still nervous, would my parents believe him?

"Oh, ok then," my dad said, his face returning to normal, "Make sure you thank Nick, Judes," he told me.

"Don't worry dad," I said, rolling my eyes. It seemed that I was in safe waters now. I would have to make sure to thank Nick for getting me out of that predicament.

"So, Judy," my mom said suddenly directing my attention back to her, "how has your week been?"

"Grea—" I began before stopping myself. With everything that had happened last night and today I had completely forgotten the events of yesterday's patrol. It all came rushing back now, how Nick and I had chased that raccoon and followed it into the alley. How I had been attacked and Nick had suffered a wound from being stabbed by that raccoon because I had been hurt.

Somehow, I had been completely oblivious to Nick's injury last night, although that may have been because I was focused on another part of Nick instead...My mind drifted until I remembered that my parents had asked me a question.

"It was mostly fine. Although yesterday I got punched by a raccoon we were chasing. My mom looked like she was about to say something but I cut her off, "I'm fine though, it was nothing serious. Nick, on the other hand, got stabbed by the raccoon."

My mom gasped suddenly at the news and looked at Nick, "Honey, are you ok?" she asked, worrying over his safety.

"Mrs. Hopps, I'm completely fine. It's not serious, you can't even see it anymore," he told her. I felt slightly better when he said this. If the cut wasn't visible then there was an excuse for me not noticing it last night or this morning. I also didn't have to worry about it or feel guilty for being the cause of it. Even though it wasn't really my fault, I still felt bad knowing that if it weren't for me he wouldn't have blanked like he did.

Once my mom had finished worrying about Nick, her and my dad decided to say goodbye.

"Bye mom, bye dad," I said before hitting the end call button. I let out a sigh of relief once I put my phone down. Besides the small hiccup in the beginning, the conversation had gone well and her parents didn't suspect anything was wrong. "Thanks for helping me out there," I said to Nick and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"No need to thank me, Carrots. I don't exactly want your parents to know about us yet. They might have gotten used to me being your partner but I don't think they'll be able to accept us being mates so easily," he said to me. I agreed with him completely. I didn't plan on keeping Nick and I a secret from my parents forever but I wasn't quite ready to tell them yet.

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2:50 p.m.

Nick and I had finished getting ready and left for my apartment at the Grand Pangolin Arms in a taxi at 2:30 where I had changed into a pair of jeans and a lavender V-neck T-shirt. Afterwards, we had made our way to the theater and were now in the process of deciding which movie we should watch.

"Hey, Carrots, they're playing _Deadpoodle._ I've been waiting for that movie forever." He looked like a kid who couldn't wait for Christmas so he could open his presents. I couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. How could I say no to that?

"Ok, if that's what you want," I told him. His tail began to wag behind him happily causing me to smile again.

The movie started at 3:15 so we bought our tickets and some popcorn and got to our seats. The whole time, Nick told me everything he knew about the film. Apparently it was a movie by Furvel based off of a comic book character.

"Do you read comic books?" I asked him when he said that.

"I used to when I was little. After I started living on the streets I stopped, I needed the money for food and such. I never really got back into reading the comic books after that, although I still watch all of the movies that come out."

I was slightly surprised. Nick didn't seem like the kind of mammal that would be into comics. There were a lot of things I was learning about Nick and I was glad he was opening up to me.

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5:03 p.m.

The movie's credits rolled, signaling the end. It had been very entertaining, especially Deadpoodle himself. Although I had gotten slightly embarrassed during scenes where someone was nude, being so close to Nick. Of course we had both seen each other naked but it was awkward to be watching a nude animal in a public place with Nick. Other than that though, I really enjoyed it; I could see why Nick enjoyed superhero movies so much now.

We got up together and began to walk up the aisle of the theater. As we were walking, I saw a hare playing on his phone, entirely normal except for the fact that he was staring at me. I had no idea why he would be staring at me, I didn't recognize him from anywhere. It occurred to me that he could just be staring because he thought I was pretty.

I instinctively got closer to Nick and pressed myself into his side. I didn't care if I was getting strange looks from any other mammals, I wasn't comfortable with the stares that the hare was giving me and wanted to send him a message to back off.

I felt Nick stiffen when I pressed into him but he relaxed almost immediately and put his paw on my shoulder. I was relieved when the hare looked down at his phone, seeming to have gotten the message. Nick said nothing about the hare and smiled lazily as we exited the theater, leading me to believe that he hadn't noticed anything. I didn't say anything about the hare to Nick, I wasn't sure if he would be jealous or not but there was no point in risking riling him up over nothing.

I suddenly noticed that we had already exited the building without me noticing and were now standing just outside the doors. He had taken his paw off my shoulder which made me sad but I knew that it was probably best not to display our affection too much, what with the tensions created by the legalization of interspecies marriage. Thinking about the new law, I realized that my relationship with Nick could not have come at better time nor at a worse time. It seemed that the world was becoming more accepting of interspecies couples and now that Nick and I were mates for life, he would be able to legally marry me when he decided to propose. At the same time though, the law seemed to have stirred up a lot of hate towards interspecies couples that could certainly spell trouble for the both of us.

"Hey Carrots, what do you say we go get some dinner," Nick asked me suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. Now that Nick mentioned food though, I found that I was actually really hungry. It probably had something to do with the fact that I didn't actually have breakfast, or lunch depending on how you look at it. "Sure. Do you have a place in mind?" I asked him.

"Yeah, come on," he began walking away and motioned for me to follow with his paw.

Nick brought me to a diner named _The Den_ , it wasn't anything fancy but Nick assured me that the food there was great. I decided to just trust him and follow him inside. The interior of the diner was very futuristic, lots of chrome counters and bright whites, blues, and reds with plenty of lights everywhere. It was warm and inviting, a typical diner based on its interior design.

We sat down at one of the booths and were greeted almost immediately by our waiter, a male sheep. I ordered a caesar salad while Nick ordered a salmon, we both also got a water and decided to share some beetles as an appetizer. The sheep wrote down our orders and said he'd be out with our drinks and appetizers shortly.

While we waited, we both checked our furbook profiles on our phones until I saw the same hare that was staring at me in the movie theater walk in and sit in an empty booth. I was confused about why he was here but he hadn't even glanced at me when he entered. He was now checking his phone again not paying any attention to anyone around him, let alone me or Nick. _He probably just had the same idea to eat after the movie_ , I thought.

All thoughts of the hare were driven from my mind when the sheep returned with our beetles and water. As soon as the beetles were placed on the table, I grabbed one and promptly put it in my mouth and chewed on it happily; I was starving.

The sheep gave me a look of surprise as I ate the beetle. It must have been pretty weird seeing me, a bunny, eating a beetle like that. "What?" I said sheepishly, looking down, "They're good."

Our waiter didn't say anything but just walked away. This caused Nick to laugh before he too grabbed a beetle and began munching on it.

We chatted amiably about work and our co-workers until our food came. Once our food arrived, Nick insisted on feeding me my salad. He was right, it was really fresh and tasted wonderful. When our food was almost gone and Nick was feeding me the last bite of my salad, I noticed the hare staring at me again. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable again and decided to finally say something to Nick.

"Hey Nick, I think that that hare over there might be following us. I saw him at the movies earlier and he keeps staring at me," I admitted.

Nick look over at the hare sitting in the booth, once again seemingly absorbed in his phone. "Hey," he said, "That's my neighbor. You know, the one you met last night in the elevator. I suddenly remembered seeing the hare's shocked face after having caught Nick and I kissing in the elevator.

"Oh," I said. That would explain why he kept staring at me, especially if he was against interspecies relationships, which he very well might be. Nick didn't seem to be worried about it though and I calmed down. If Nick wasn't worried there was no reason for me to be.

We finished our food and Nick insisted on paying for it, I eventually gave in although I insisted on at least leaving the waiter a tip myself. We left the diner and Nick invited me to go back to his place for the night. I agreed so we went back to my apartment so I could grab some clothes and a few other things I might need and then we headed back to Nick's apartment.

By the time we got there it was close to 7. We decided to just cuddle together on his bed for the rest of the night. We fell asleep eventually together, all thoughts of the hare from earlier completely gone.

* * *

 **(Author's Notes)That's the end of this chapter. I wonder why that hare seems to be following Nick and Judy. Hmmmmmm. Guess you'll just have to wait until next chapter for that.**

 **You may now understand what I meant when I said that this chapter was going to have a lot of fluff but also be important to the rest of the story. I did end up keeping this chapter a 100% Judy POV in the end so I hope those of you who felt I was dissing Judy feel better now. Also, I got this chapter out on time, yay.**

 **As I mentioned in the first chapter I uploaded, I have been, and still am, reading Zootopia fanfictions. Surprisingly, the author of one of the first fanfictions for Zootopia I read sent me a PM. I now feel compelled to tell all of you here that if you haven't already seen the fanfiction** _ **When Instinct Falls**_ **I recommend that you check it out. The story is amazing and I assure you that you will enjoy like I did. It actually was one of the stories that really inspired my desire to write my own fanfiction.**

 **Other than that I don't really have much to say right now. As always, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter and I would appreciate it if you would comment any suggestions or criticisms you have below to let me know how I'm doing. I do want to do what I can to try and please you guys as you are the ones taking your time to actually read what I write. Seriously, you guys are awesome.**

 **Well, this is Jay, signing off.**


	4. Chapter 4-Haters Gonna Hate

Story Title-Can s Fox Love a Bunny?

Act 1-A Beginning

Chapter IV-Haters Gonna Hate

 **(Author's Notes) Oh boy, another chapter is up and ready to be read. Some events are gonna take place in this chapter that will really start to move things forward. As always, I hope you guys enjoy the newest chapter and I'll let you get to reading it.**

* * *

"Always remember... Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots."

― Ziad K. Abdelnour, Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics

* * *

 **Nick POV**

10:18 a.m. Sunday

 _Why is everyone staring at us?_ I wondered as Judy and I walked through the grand front doors of the Mammalia Central Mall. Nearly every mammal in the mall threw angry glares our way and I could not for the life of me understand why. I was used to the occasional stares, it came with being a fox in a society that generally distrusted them, but never so many, and from other predators too! I couldn't see anything wrong with the two of us going to the mall. Neither of us displayed any signs of affection that could reveal our relationship, so why were they staring?

It seemed that Judy was thinking the same thing as me, as I heard her say next to me, "Nick, why are they all staring at us?" She sounded nervous and uncomfortable and I wanted nothing more than to comfort her but I didn't dare risk it in public.

"I haven't the foggiest, Carrots," I told her honestly. I knew that it wouldn't do to let the mammals' stares get to us so I followed up by saying, "Just ignore them, 'Never let them see that they get to you' remember."

Her expression lightened at the mention of my old mantra, "Ok, Nicky."

I chuckled lightly at the nickname Judy had called me, "Nicky? That's new."

"Well, you've got so many nicknames for me, I thought that maybe I should make some for you too," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Well you could at least try to be a bit more creative than that," I said.

"Got any suggestions then?"

"Hmmm," I hummed, feigning thoughtfulness, "How about the-sexiest-fox-ever, or Bunny Slayer?"

"You're so full of it," she said giving me a playful shove, but I could still see the smile that she had on her face. I just laughed and we kept walking to the American Beagle.

After we had finished getting ready earlier, Judy had told me she needed to go to the mall to buy some new clothes. Having nothing better to do, I had offered to go with her and she had gladly accepted my offer.

We entered the store but were promptly greeted by the female otter who was working the counter. "I'm sorry but we run a _respectable_ business here. I'm going to have to ask the two of you to leave," she said with a very forced sense of cheeriness, before quickly ushering us out before we could say a word.

Judy looked ready to start an argument but I quickly told her, "Forget it. Let's go spend our money someplace more deserving of it." She didn't want to give up that easily but eventually gave in and followed me elsewhere in the mall to find another clothes store.

* * *

11:02 a.m.

I followed Judy out of the mall, my arms weighed down by the weight of the two bags filled with the clothes Judy had bought. She didn't know it yet but I enjoyed walking behind her, it gave me an excuse to look at her adorable little tail. I couldn't look at it for too long though or else someone might notice, "So, Judy, what did you have planned for us next?"

Judy turned around to answer me but was interrupted by the buzzing from her phone in her pocket. "Hold on, I got a text."

I politely waited for Judy while she took out her phone and looked at the text. If Judy didn't have any plans, I was hoping to bring her out to dinner with me. I was friendly with the owner of a fancy restaurant in the Rainforest District and I was hoping to get a private table so that we could have a nice dinner together. My thoughts were interrupted by an aggressive voice coming from somewhere behind me.

"Fucking disgusting. Why can't you stick with your own kind?"

 _Huh_. I was about to turn around and ask what was going on when I felt a streak of pain open across my back. I yelled out in agony and the world began to fade out. Unable to bear the torment, my vision faded around the edges and I felt my legs give out beneath me. Judy might have said something but I couldn't be sure. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was a small grey bunny flying through the air in my direction.

* * *

 **Judy POV**

11:05 a.m.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, signaling an incoming text. "Hold on, I got a text," I told Nick before taking my phone out of my pocket.

It was Clawhauser, _Judy, u need to look at the Sunday paper asap. Like NOW._ I had no idea what could be in the Sunday paper that could be so important.

I was about to send back a text telling Clawhauser I would check later when I heard a voice from somewhere behind Nick, it sounded angry. "Fucking disgusting. Why can't you stick with your own kind?"

 _Who was that?_ I looked up to see a zebra behind Nick drag a knife across his back from shoulder to hip. He yelled in pain when the knife made its way through him and I winced myself, his pain a part of me as much as it was him. His face was contorted in a grimace of pain, his paws clenched.

"Nick!" I yelled out in terror as his knees buckled and he fell forwards. I dropped my phone and looked up to the zebra that had attacked Nick. Without thinking I leaped into the air towards the zebra. He had hurt Nick and he was going to pay for it!

Both of my legs were bent as I brought them up to be level with my head. I found myself at the zebra's chest level when I kicked out, hitting the zebra squarely in his force of the drop kick had me land back on my feet while the zebra dropped the knife and stumbled backwards, stunned. Before he could regain his senses, I jumped up once again and delivered a spinning jump kick to the zebra's jaw. He crumpled in a heap, unconscious at my feet, after I landed.

While I was fighting I had been completely focused on the assailant but now that I had stopped, I looked around me. There was a large group of mammals staring at me; some were videotaping the fight on their phones but it didn't look like any of them had called the cops or attempted to help. In fact, a couple of them looked disappointed. I wanted to be mad but Nick needed me first.

I found my phone where I had dropped it and quickly dialed 911. I rushed over to where Nick lay on the sidewalk as the call picked up and I heard the cheery voice of Clawhauser come over the phone. "ZPD, please state your emergency."

"Clawhauser! Nick was just attacked outside of the Mammalia Central Mall. He's losing blood, he needs an ambulance," I frantically tried to tell Clawhauser what had happened.

"Ok, Judy. An ambulance is one the way. What about the attacker?"

"He's unconscious," I said, casting a glance towards the zebra before returning my full attention to Nick. Already, there was a pool of crimson surrounding him and I could tell that he was losing a lot of blood.

"Alright, Judy. Sit tight, help is on the way," came Clawhauser's reply, but I wasn't listening.

Taking one of the newly bought shirts out of a bag, I flipped Nick over and tried to staunch the flow of blood with the cloth. Blood began to soak through the light blue shirt, turning it a dark purple. He meant so much to me. We had spent almost everyday for the past 9 months together and now that we were mates we were even closer than before.

I hadn't noticed but the sirens of an ambulance were getting closer while I knelt next to Nick. The shirt I was using was drenched in blood by the time the ambulance arrived at the scene. Nick's bleeding seemed to have slowed down and I felt relieved thinking that he might be ok.

Nick was rolled onto a stretcher and brought into the back of the ambulance. I attempted to climb in with Nick as well but I felt an arm on my shoulder, holding me back. I turned to see a panther EMT holding me back with a paw on my shoulder, "Ma'am, you aren't allowed to ride in the ambulance. If you need to get to the hospital you're going to have to call a cab or drive." With that, the panther entered the back of the ambulance and closed the door, shutting me off from Nick.

Seconds after the door closed, the ambulance drove away in the direction of the hospital. Unwilling to wait for a taxi, I took off after the ambulance. When I was going to highschool at the Bunnyburrows, I had been my school's track star, holding the best time for the 1,500 metre run. Running to the hospital however, I crushed my previous time by a longshot. Although Nick's bleeding seemed to have been slowing down, he had still lost a lot of blood and the gash on his back had certainly been pretty bad.

 _Why would someone do something like that?_ I wondered as I ran. I thought back to what I had heard the zebra say, something about sticking with our own kind. I knew that there were animals, almost all prey, that believed predators and prey couldn't and shouldn't get along. It was very likely that that zebra was once such mammal and wanted to protect the 'poor, innocent bunny from the sly, conniving fox.' It made me slightly sick knowing that some mammals still thought like that but I knew that there was nothing I could do about it. What I could do though, was keep running to the hospital and to Nick.

No other thoughts entered my mind during the rest of my run to the hospital besides concern over Nick.

* * *

12:53 p.m.

I was extremely stressed out, sitting in the waiting room of the hospital for news about Nick. I had arrived at the hospital close to an hour and 45 minutes ago and for that whole time I had received no information regarding the condition of Nick. The waiting was the worst, I was fairly certain that Nick would live but I was unsure of any other effects his injuries might have and just bad the wound actually was. And the whole time I could do nothing but sit in an uncomfortable plastic chair in the sterile, white waiting room and stare at the floor.

I brought out of my thoughts by a friendly looking badger in a white doctor's coat. "Would you happen to be Miss Hopps?" he asked in a gentle voice, smiling at me.

"Yes, I am. How is Nick?" I asked, desperate for any information on my fox mate.

"Hello Miss Hopps, I am Dr. Thompson. Nick is fine, he is awake now if you would like to see him," Dr. Thompson said, extending his paw to me.

I returned his handshake, "Yes, I would." I was relieved to hear that Nick was ok and that I would finally be able to see him. I followed the badger to a staircase near the waiting room. I didn't pay attention to the number of floors we passed, I was too absorbed in worrying about Nick to care.

Eventually, Dr. Thompson stopped to open a door labeled "Fox-56". He held the door open for me as I entered into the large room with fox-sized furniture. The right hand wall was entirely a window, flooding the room with sunlight while the left hand wall was consisted primarily of cabinets and counters holding medical supplies. The only thing I had any eyes for though, was the fox lying on a bed in the center of the back wall.

As soon as he saw me, his expression lit up, causing butterflies to appear in my stomach. I was flattered that I made him so happy and couldn't help but to return his happy grin.

Behind me, I heard the door close as Dr. Thompson left. As soon as we were alone, I ran over to Nick's bed and wrapped my arms around him in a big hug. Before he could say or do anything else, I smashed my lips into his, locking him in a passionate kiss. Nick frantically began trying to push me off as I squeezed him and kissed him even more. He was able to force me off before he gasped in pain and arched his back off the bed. Realizing that I had probably just hurt Nick's back, I put my paws up to my mouth, "Ohmigod Nick, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot," came my muffled apology.

He continued to clench his teeth in pain for another few moments before he relaxed himself back into the bed. "It's all fine, Carrots, no big deal. Just try not to forget again." His pained expression turned back into a grin as the pain receded.

"Nick, I was so worried about you. Are you feeling ok?" I still didn't have any information about Nick's injury other than that he was fine and wanted to know more.

"Ya, the doctors gave me painkillers so the cut doesn't hurt unless someone touches it. Thankfully the cut wasn't too deep so it isn't that bad. I did still have to get stitches though and they'll be in for a little over a week. I won't be able to do anything _physical_ until I get them taken out though, or else I might break them, so we'll have to take," he said as he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Nick! We're in public!" I exclaimed as I lightly punched his shoulder. Of course he had to make a sexual innuendo now. Despite my exasperation, I felt a wave of relief wash over me at his words, although I was slightly upset he would be out from work while he healed. I couldn't really complain though since he wasn't hurt too seriously.

Suddenly, I heard the door open behind me and I turned to see the massive frame of Chief Bogo just barely squeezing through the door frame of the room. I was surprised at first but realized that he was probably here to check up on Nick, being the police chief and all.

After straightening himself, Chief Bogo stared at us for a couple of seconds with an expression that read neither worried nor mad nor any other emotion. Then he made his way to the side of the bed opposite me and began talking, "Officer Wilde, I'm sure you will be happy to know that the zebra who assaulted you has been taken into custody and admitted to assaulting you. He's going to be locked up for a long time."

"Serves the bastard right," Nick snarled to no one in particular.

The Chief's stoic expression fell before he asked his next question and was replaced by one of concern, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I had to get stitches though so I'll be out for at least a week. Hopefully the ZPD won't crumble without me there to keep everything together," Nick replied with his trademark half-lidded eyes and cocky grin.

Chief Bogo snorted irritatedly before saying, "You won't have to worry about that, you're both being put on paid administrative leave for an undetermined amount of time."

My expression suddenly turned to one of shock and confusion, "Both of us. What for?" As far as I knew, neither of us had anything deserving of administrative leave, and for an undetermined amount of time as well. What was going on?

Bogo seemed kind of confused at my question and glanced between Nick and I before asking, "Have either of you seen the Sunday paper yet?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Nick asked with a bewildered face.

I had no idea why it was important either. _Wait_ , "Clawhauser sent me a text telling me to look at it right before Nick was attacked," I said to Nick and Bogo.

Bogo just sighed and pulled out a copy of today's Sunday paper from one of his uniform's pocket. He handed it to me but the buffalo sized paper was ridiculously large for me so I set it down on Nick's lap so we could both read it together.

At the top of the paper there were severals picture featuring myself and Nick. One was us at the diner yesterday while Nick fed me some of my salad. I hadn't noticed it that day, but I was looking dreamily at Nick and appeared to be giggling slightly while he had a very large smile on his face. There were others of us at the movies together and leaving Nick's apartment together. One in particular confused me slightly as I couldn't remember it happening. It showed me pressed up against Nick's side looking uncomfortable as we exited the theater. He had his arm draped across my shoulder with a sly smile on his face. Above the picture was the caption _Are the ZPD's Only Fox and Bunny Police Officers a Couple?_ My heart sank slightly and I glanced slightly at Nick who appeared just as troubled as I was before I moved on to read the article that accompanied the picture.

 _Yesterday, first fox police officer Nick Wilde and first bunny police officer Judy Hopps were seen enjoying a romantic day in each other's company. The two were seen cuddling, watching a movie, eating together and feeding each other in public. Just the night before, the two were also seen kissing each other by an author before entering Officer Wilde's apartment and not exiting until very late the next day._

 _Most know of the social stigmas surrounding interspecies relationships and many mammals still hold resentment towards such relationships despite recent attempts to be more accepting including new laws legalizing interspecies marriage._

 _Although most mammals are able to overlook interspecies relationships between two prey or two predators, Officers Hopps and Wilde bridge a new gap by being a predator-prey relationship and between natural enemies no less. This fact brings to rise the question, is there foul play involved? Perhaps Officer Hopps has been forced into this relationship against her will. If this is the case, a police scandal shall surely ensue regarding the ZPD's only fox officer and the reliability of the ZPD in its choice of officers._

 _In the following days, the Zootopia Times will be sure to keep up with any and all news regarding Officers Hopps and Wilde's relationship._

I felt sick after reading the article. Who could write such a thing? Quickly I looked around the paper for the author and what I saw caused me to gasp. The name read Jonathan Hare under a picture of Nick's neighbour who I had seen following us yesterday. He had been taking pictures the whole time. I had flashbacks of him playing on his phone, staring at me, as Nick and I exited the theater and how I had pressed into Nick instinctually. Him playing on his phone again as Nick and I ate at the diner together. He had been taking pictures the whole time and he had seen us kissing two nights ago, that must've been how he new. I couldn't believe our luck; the one animal who had caught us kissing had been an author for the _Zootopia Times_.

Nick seemed to have noticed who the author was as well since he suddenly growled, "That son-of-a-bitch. 'Foul play' my ass, I would never force you to do anything like that."

"I know you wouldn't, Nick," I didn't want him to get too worked up over the article and besides, I really did know that he cared about me too much to do something so ridiculous as that.

Chief Bogo cleared his throat before Nick could say anything more, his previous look of concern was now replaced by a more serious one, "Regardless of what is going on, there are a lot of mammals right now calling for 'justice', especially from those protesting the interspecies marriage law. Because of the issues brought up in the article, I am obligated to ask the two of you, are you two in a relationship and, Officer Hopps, has Officer Wilde forced you to do anything against your will?"

"Seriously?" Nick scoffed.

"I'm just following the rules, Wilde." Bogo said, irritation creeping into his voice. "I need an answer." He looked at me.

I felt uncomfortable admitting our relationship to Bogo but it was already very obvious thanks the the paper so I decided to just tell him, "Sir, we are in a couple but Nick has forced me to do anything. I made the choice completely by myself. If anything, I forced Nick more than he forced me," I blushed slightly hoping I hadn't said too much, when I was nervous I could keep on talking forever.

Bogo nodded at me before saying, "Alright, I'm not going to say anything then. I know that the two of you are able to get more done than any of the other officers so you are free to do whatever you like so long as it stays off the job and it doesn't interfere with your work when you get back. For now though, it's too dangerous for you two to stay on the streets, today was proof enough of that."

I nodded, I didn't want to see Nick get hurt again like he was. "What should we do then?"

"You should lie low, maybe get out of Zootopia for a little if you can."

I showed my agreement with a simple "Ok" before Bogo made to leave the room. Before he closed the door he added, "Oh, and the clothes you bought from the store are at the station, you can pick them up from the front desk whenever you feel like it." He smiled at us before closing the door and leaving us to ourselves.

After Bogo left, I turned to see Nick, silently fuming. I wanted to get his mind off of the article and quickly went through some topics in my mind, "So when do you get to leave the hospital?"

Nick became slightly less agitated and turned to look at me, "Today actually. The doctors are just finishing up the medical report and after that I should be good to go," he seemed happy that he wouldn't have to stay at the hospital for the night.

"Good," I told him, "I'll wait until they finish then we can leave together."

"Thanks, Carrots," he said cheerfully. Beneath the bed sheets, I could see his tail attempt to wag.

I just gave him a short kiss and said, "I'm only doing it because I love you."

"I love you too."

After that, we fell into a comfortable silence and simply enjoyed each other's presence. I was so happy that I had Nick. I would want to go through the hell that we were undoubtedly going go through with no mammal other than him and I knew that if anyone would help me get through it it would be Nick.

* * *

 **Nick's POV**

2:34 p.m.

Together, Judy and I walked through the front door of my apartment building and walked over to the elevator. After being discharged from the hospital, we had decided to head back to my apartment to hang out. Despite the painkillers I had been given, my back still ached like a son-of-a-bitch. Now that the word of our relationship ship was out, Judy had insisted that we hold paws. Eventually I had given in; I couldn't deny that I wanted to hold paws.

While I had Jonathan Hare to thank for being able to hold Judy's paw in public, he also may have very well destroyed our lives. Today had been evidence enough that we would be the target of haters and purists now that they knew we were together. Thanks to him Judy could now be in danger and anyone that did that better expect no kindness from me.

"I still can't believe that your neighbour would do that to you," Judy spoke up suddenly, disbelief written in her voice..

"Yeah," I agreed, "He must've stayed up all night to get the paper out the next day in time."

As I was finishing that sentence, the elevator reached its destination and began to open up. Behind the door stood the one person I simultaneously wanted to see most and least: my neighbour Jonathan Hare.

The anger I had been repressing since I had read the paper broke loose at the sight of the hare in front of me. Ignoring the pain that flared in my back, I lunged forwards and lifted Jonathan up against the wall of the hallway by his shirt. "You piece of shit!" I spat at him, "Do you have any idea what you've done to us?"

The hare looked terrified for his life, his eyes bulged out of his head and his nose twitched furiously, almost non-stop. "I-I-I only d-did my j-j-j-job," his stammer was bad and coupled with the quaver in his voice it almost made it impossible to understand him.

"Well are you happy now? Are you happy that you've ruined our lives?" I was beyond caring about anything other than making the hare pay for what he would have done. Had it not been for the rabbit that had been quiet up until that moment I would have done just that.

"Nick, stop it, you're going to break one of your stitches. You can't do anything about it anymore just let him go," she sounded so worried about me. I reluctantly dropped Jonathan back to the floor. Even before he had actually touched the floor, the hare was frantically trying to run away. He ran back to his apartment door and slammed it shut, an audible _click_ signifying the turn of the lock followed soon after.

I turned to Judy, "He deserves anything that happens to him," I said through clenched teeth.

"Maybe," she looked frustrated as well, "But you're still a police officer. You can't just go around dealing out your own justice to people. You have to follow the law."

As much as I hated it, she was right. The city wouldn't last a day if the ZPD officers didn't follow the rules. I didn't say anything and instead walked to the door of my apartment and unlocked it. I made my way over to my couch and eased myself into it, the pain in my back returning.

With the encounter with Jonathan behind me now, my thoughts turned to the implications of everyone knowing of mine and Judy's relationship. "Wonder what our friends will think about us now," I wondered aloud.

A gasp came from the kitchen where Judy had gone after entering my apartment. She appeared around the corner of the counter which divided the kitchen and living room, "Nick, my parents."

"What about them?" I knew that they might be a problem but I was unsure exactly what she was trying to say.

"The paper normally takes a few days to make its way out to the Bunnyburrows but it will get there eventually. We have to visit and tell them before then. They might be mad if we tell them but they'll be even angrier if they find out through the newspaper first."

"Judy, I know what you're saying but your parents aren't going to be very happy to learn that their daughter's mates with a fox," I told her nervously. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with Judy's parents for a while and I wasn't exactly happy to have that problem arise so soon.

"But Nick, they've already met you. It's not like you're a complete stranger."

"Yeah, they met me, over the phone. Besides, how much do they really know about me. I'm a fox and I'm your partner on the force. Sure, they act like they like me whenever we talk but do they truly trust me? Do they truly see me as more than a fox. You said yourself that they've never held any particular love towards foxes and now you want to tell them that we're in a relationship."

"Nick, they're going to figure out anyways and it'll only be worse if we don't tell them ourselves. We have to go visit them and tell them, besides we're off of work anyways."

I really had no argument against her at this point. She was right that they would figure out eventually. And Chief Bogo had told us to leave the city for a while if possible, maybe it would be a good idea to go visit Judy's parents for a while. "Fine, call them and see if we can go tomorrow. I want to get this over with if we're doing it."

Judy smiled when I finally agreed with her. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called her parents. While she waited for her parents to pick up I stared at her and found myself absorbed by her eyes.

She could've been the one that got hurt today instead of me. I don't know what would have have happened if she had been the one that got hurt. She meant so much to me and now that we were mates I couldn't think of a day going by without her being there. I had to be ready to protect her from anyone who might want to hurt her and do whatever it took.

I hadn't realized it but while I was thinking Judy had been talking with her parents, "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow then…Bye," she hung up the phone and put it on her lap. "We're leaving tomorrow. We should catch the 10 o'clock train and hopefully we'll be there by noon for lunch. My parents said they're very excited to finally meet you."

I nodded, "We should get ready then. We can go to the station to pick up the clothes and then we go to your apartment so you pack."

"Ok then. Let's go." She helped me up off the couch and we left for the ZPD.

* * *

2:56 p.m.

Judy supported me slightly as we entered the large front doors of the ZPD. I saw McHorn and Francine talking to each other off to the side. When they saw us there easy expressions shifted to ones of pity and sadness. I smiled half-heartedly at them which only seemed to make them sadder.

"Looks like some people are sorry for us, Carrots," I said nodding towards McHorn and Francine.

"Some, but not everyone," she told me as she nodded towards a lion officer who was staring at us like he were a bug he had stepped on.

I was sort of used to getting angry glares from mammals at this point in my life and I had learned to ignore the looks but Judy hadn't had to deal with mammals hating her her whole life. "We don't need everyone," I told her and looked down into her amethyst eyes. "In fact, even if everyone was against us, I wouldn't care because I would have you with me." It may have sounded cheesy but I meant it, every word. My whole life I had suffered glares and stereotypes against foxes, eventually I had just given in and let other mammals define me. Judy had been the one to believe in me and make me believe that I could be more than what everyone else saw. So long as I was with her, I could ignore the hate and the harsh words.

"Awww, Nick. That's so sweet," Judy said and gave me a quick peck on the lips.

We arrived at the front desk and greeted Clawhauser who had been busy devouring a box of donuts. "Hey, Ben," Judy said cheerfully.

He looked up from his treat and his voluminous cheeks broke into a wide smile. "O M Goodness, I was so worried about you, Nick. Are you ok?" He asked sincerely.

"Yeah, Benji, I'm fine. 'S just a scratch and a few stitches, nothing too serious."

"Thank God," he said relieved. "So," he looked between us expectantly "Is it true?"

I looked at Judy who was staring up at me and nodded ever so slightly. She turned back to look at Clawhauser and said, "Yes, we're mates." She looked happy to be able to tell that to someone who wasn't as intimidating as Chief Bogo and much more friendly.

"Wait, you two are already mates? How long have you been together?" His over bubbling joy was tempered by curiousness at the new.

Judy looked kind of embarrassed about saying it so I answered for her, "Two days, she just couldn't keep her paws off me." I said nonchalantly.

"Nick!" Judy exclaimed indignantly before socking me in the arm.

Clawhauser laughed at us, "It's ok, I think you two are perfect for each other. I always sort of thought that the two of you would make a perfect couple."

"Thanks, Ben," Judy said, "It's nice to see a friendly face amongst the hate."

"Don't worry about it. So, what can I do for you two?"

"We were hoping to pick up our clothes. Buffalo-Butt said you should have them," I told him.

"Oh, of course," he said as he pulled out two bags full of clothes from under the counter. "So what do you two have planned to do while you're off?"

"We were actually going to visit my parents. We wanted to tell them about us before they read it in the paper."

"Oooh, good luck you two."

"Thanks, Benji."

"Yeah, thanks."

We left the precinct in good moods. It was nice knowing that some people didn't care about interspecies relationships, especially after the attack by the zebra earlier today. If only everyone could be like Clawhauser, or McHorn and Francine. Sadly, the world had a hard time coming to grips with change.

* * *

 **Judy POV**

3:20 p.m.

I was busy stuffing clothes and other items for my visit to my parents into my suitcase when I heard Nick's voice from behind me, "Y'know, having to go back and forth between our apartments all the time is kind of tedious. Maybe, if you want to, you could move in with me. You've already spent the past two nights there anyways and everyone already knows we're a couple."

I was taken aback by the suddenness of the proposal. We had only been together for two days and he wanted me to move in? I was unsure about it but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. We were already mates and I had been sleeping over at Nick's anyways. Besides, his apartment was much bigger and nicer than mine, plus it certainly would be more convenient.

I was about to tell Nick but a nervous, almost embarrassed expression took over his face. Before I could speak he said, "It's ok if you don't. I just thought—"

"Nick, I would love to move in with you."

His visage lit up and his tail wagged happily across the floor. "So, do you want to wait until after we get back or…"

I thought about it briefly but decided that I might as well just do it now, I didn't really have a lot of stuff and we could do it in one trip. "Nah, we can just do it now."

"Ok."

Together, Nick and I grabbed the remaining few items in my room and went down to the lobby. I talked to the landlady and handed in my key, telling her I was moving. Afterwards, we called for a cab and started heading back to Nick's place.

I knew that moving in with Nick was a pretty big step but I was happy about it. It only meant that I would be able to spend more time with Nick and that was not something to complain about.

I looked over at Nick who was sitting next to me in the back of the cab. I wasn't sure what exactly to expect from our trip to my parents. I knew that when I was little my parents were completely against it. All the times they had condemned interspecies couples and other such 'evil relationships'. Something told me that the meeting might not go so well, my parents might have been warming up to foxes but I wasn't sure if they would be happy to learn that I was mates with Nick.

 _We'll just have to figure it out when we get there,_ I thought as the cab continued bringing us to Nick's apartment.

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 **(Author's Notes) I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter. Now everyone knows about Nick and Judy's relationship, except her parents. How will the rest of Zootopia react now? How will the Hopps react to learning that their daughter is mates with a fox? You'll have to wait to find out.**

 **Next chapter will show the arrival at Hopps' farm and the first time Judy's parents meet Nick in person. Things are gonna get spicy up in here.**

 **If you enjoyed the chapter, be sure to follow and/or favorite. If you didn't like the chapter or have something to say about it, please please** _ **please**_ **, write a comment or PM me with a suggestion or criticism. I want to make my writing better if possible but I need you guys in order to do that. Your support thus far has been phenomenal and I can't express my gratitude enough. Thank you guys for reading my story.**

 **This is Jay, signing off.**


	5. Chapter 5-Opening Up

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act I-A Beginning

Chapter V-Opening Up

 **(Author's Notes) Sup peeps. There are a couple things about the newest chapter of** _ **Can a Fox Love a Bunny?**_ **That I wanted to acknowledge before you see it. First off, the visit with the Hopps is not featured in this chapter. Instead this chapter is going to show more dialogue and be much more emotional than the previous chapters. Some dark stuff is going to be revealed so prepare yourselves. As I've mentioned before, I know that it may seem as if Nick and Judy's relationship is moving very fast. I've already addressed this and given my excuse for this but I still want Nick and Judy to have an emotional relationship, not just a physical one. I don't want this to just be a porno, I want Nick and Judy to have a realistic relationship full of actual, honest love, not just sex. I saw a good opportunity for Nick and Judy in this chapter so I took it. This brings me to my next point.**

 **This chapter is another completely Judy POV chapter. I know that the same thing happened in chapter 3 but I have a good reason for this. The discussion in this chapter is one that I felt must be shown from Judy's perspective. After you have finished reading you will hopefully see what I mean. I don't mean to put any characters on the backburner here but that's just how I feel and I don't want to force something that could make the chapter less effective. So, once again, this chapter is a 100% Judy POV.**

 **Also, this chapter is a bit shorter than my previous ones. I simply didn't have enough to write as much as I normally do and I didn't want to combine the start of the Bunnyburrows chapters with this one, I think they deserve their own chapters. As a result, this chapter will be a bit shorter but I will try to make up for it in the future.**

 **I know that this chapter is a little late and I'm truly sorry about that. Ironically, I actually feel more busy being off school than I was when I was in school. What with soccer pre pre-season (my coach is crazy) and yard work needing to be done, I didn't have enough time this week to finish by Saturday. I'll try harder in the future to get chapters out in time as I get just as annoyed as any of you when a fanfiction I'm reading does not get a chapter out on schedule.**

 **Hopefully no one is too disappointed by my choices I made in this chapter, but I believe you'll enjoy this chapter anyways. I'll see you all at the end of the chapter but for now, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"Grief does not change you...It reveals you."

—John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

* * *

 **Judy POV**

9:25 a.m. Monday

"Do you want to go up to the observation room?" I looked to my right at Nick who was holding two suitcases, on for both of us. I tried telling him that he shouldn't be exerting himself so much since his back injury was still healing but he had grabbed my suitcase anyways, completely ignoring my protests. I was pretty sure that his back was still hurting him but he said he was fine every time I asked. Why do males have to be so stubborn all the time?

We had left Nick's early this morning and had just boarded the 9:25 train bound to Bunnyburrows so that we could hopefully get there in time for lunch.

"Yeah, sure," I answered his earlier question. Hopefully there wouldn't be many other mammals up there so Nick and I could have some privacy.

Together, we both went up to the observation room and found it completely empty. We chose two seats separated from all the others and sat down. With no one else there, I felt safe enough to snuggle into Nick, which I did, burying my head into Nick's side and wrapping my arms around him. I was careful not to put too much pressure on his wound as I did. I felt Nick slide his arm across my shoulders and give me a tender kiss between my ears but the action was lost on me as I was too busy worrying about the upcoming meeting with my parents.

Thoughts and possible scenarios swirled through my head but I constantly returned to the one I dreaded most. What if my parents didn't accept my relationship with Nick? What if they wanted nothing to do with me when they found out? If it came to that, I would defend Nick to my last breath, nothing would separate us if I had a say in it. We were mates now and I loved him just as he loved me. Even so, my family was such an important part of my life. For my entire childhood until I joined the academy and moved to Zootopia, I would see my family every day. Even now I got a call from my parents every Friday and I visited them whenever I had a chance. They were such a constant source of happiness and love and having that source suddenly yanked from my life was something I couldn't comprehend.

The thoughts were starting to become too much for me, I needed to release them, talk to someone. "Nick, I'm nervous," I said, looking up at Nick from my position at his side.

"About your parents?" he asked, looking down at me. I nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be there with you the whole time. Besides, I'd say we have a few things going for us. I'm pretty sure your parents already like me, which is good considering they used to hate foxes. And it's not like they can do anything about it now, we're already mates for life."

Nick's words were starting to make me feel slightly better about the visit. He did make some good points. My parents certainly seemed to like Nick, despite everything they used to tell me about how 'untrustworthy foxes are.' And whether they liked it or not they couldn't really change that Nick and I _were_ already mates. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"And even if they're still unsure about us, once they see how handsome and charming I am, they'll fall in love with me just like you did." I rolled my eyes at him. "Regardless, I think we should wait to tell them, at least a day. It would be good if they met me first before they learn that we're mates."

"You're probably right. But we can't wait too long or else the paper will come and they'll find out anyway and I really would rather they not hear about us from the newspaper first," I wasn't very anxious to tell my parents sooner than I had to so I wasn't going to argue about waiting a day before we broke the news.

"I know, we'll tell them tomorrow."

Content with the added time we were getting, I let myself relax more. I buried my head further into Nick's side and hummed contentedly. Thanks to Nick, I felt a little better about the meeting with my parent, but not entirely. There was still there resent of interspecies relationships I needed to worry about. There was nothing to do about it but wait though.

Suddenly, I felt Nick tense up against me. I looked up to see what had caused him alarm and saw a family of bunnies entering the observation room. There were eight little kits followed by a grey doe and a black buck. The buck was staring at us like we were a piece of gum he had stepped in but the doe and the kits paid no special attention to us. _At least not everyone cares so much about us_ , I thought.

But then one of the kits finally looked up and saw us together. As soon as he saw us he came hopping over. "Are you Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde?" he asked with awe in his voice and wonder in his eyes. It seemed like the kid was just a fan, not someone trying to stir up trouble because Nick and I were an interspecies couple.

I sat up a little so I wasn't pressed into Nick anymore but I could still feel how tense he was from the arm he had draped across my shoulder. "Yes, we are," I said to the kit.

As soon as I confirmed the kit's suspicion all of the other kits rushed over, followed by their mother. The buck eventually followed as well, albeit grudgingly.

Nick and I were soon bombarded with questions by the little kits. "What's it like being around so many big mammals at your job all the time?"

"Is it hard to fight large mammals since you're so small?"

"Did you two really solve the Nighthowler case all by yourself?"

One of the questions stood out from the rest though. "Are you two a couple? He has his arm around you and you were snuggling against him earlier." All of the other kits soon started repeating this question as well in an adorable chorus of curious, young bunny voices.

I didn't know what to say to them and looked over at Nick. He was staring intently at the buck who was returning his hard look with equal intensity. Then he adjusted his attention back to the kits and replaced his glare with a warm smile: Nick always liked kits. "Yes, we are a couple," he told them and gave a quick peck to my temple.

The buck spoke up then, "I think we should leave, Liv," he said grabbing the doe's arm.

"Oh, shush you," she scolded him, shaking his hand off. She turned her attention to Nick and I, "Don't bother about him, he comes from a very traditional family. _I_ think you two make a lovely couple; you're very cute together."

I smiled at her warmly, "Thank you, not everyone seems to think so. Nick was attacked yesterday because of it," I looked sadly at Nick when I mentioned the assault yesterday. I was still upset that he had been attacked because someone just didn't like interspecies relationships. "Thankfully he's fine now." I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, prompting his tail to attempt to wag, even though he was sitting on it.

"Oh, that's terrible. I feel so sorry for the two of you," she turned to her husband suddenly, "How do you feel now? These two have been through enough as it is without you going and adding to their troubles. You need to get past your prejudices and realize all mammals have feelings."

The buck looked very flustered upon hearing his wife's words. "I...well—"

"It's fine," I interrupted him, "We've gotten worse from mammals who think we shouldn't be officers. People being mad about our relationship isn't much different. We're used to it by now."

The kits were starting to get jumpy again and started wandering elsewhere in the compartment. "I've got to go keep an eye on the kits. It was nice meeting you two," the doe said before she and her husband went off to follow their kits.

"I hope my parents accept us that well," I said once they were far enough away that they wouldn't hear me. "We've always been so close, I don't know what I would do if we got disconnected…" I trailed off as I felt Nick squeeze my arm slightly. I looked at him and saw that his eyes were filling with tears and his muzzle was shaking. _What's going on? He was fine just a second ago._ "Nick, are you OK?"

He drew in a long, shaky breath before speaking, "It's just that you talking about your family…reminded me of mine."

I suddenly remembered that something had happened to Nick's family, something bad. "Nick, if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears."

A weak smile broke across his teary visage, "Actually, you're only about one third ears," his smile faded away as quickly as it had come, "I'm still going to tell you though. We're in this for the long haul now and you should know. I want you to know."

I nodded at him. Despite the obvious sadness Nick was feeling, I couldn't help but be at least slightly excited to learn more about Nick's past.

Nick took a deep breath and removed his arm from my shoulder, turning to face me better. I did the same.

"I guess...I'll start with my father," he began. Histone showed no emotion, just indifference, "When I was five, my father left my mother and I in the middle of the night. He left us a note, it said that he thought we would be better off without him. He said he was hurting us with his drinking and gambling problems. He was constantly out of a job so he left us to 'make our lives better'" Nick said mockingly.

I didn't know what say other than a quiet, "sorry."

"Don't be," he replied coldly. "My father was right that we were better off without him, but not because he couldn't make enough money. My mother was the kindest, sweetest vixen in the world. After my father left us, she had to work constantly at any job she could get. She would hold three or so jobs at a time and it took its toll on her. She was constantly tired and weak, she only made enough money to pay the rent on our tiny apartment and barely enough food to survive. Oftentimes, she would refuse to eat herself and instead made sure I had enough so that I wasn't hungry. My father never cared for us. If he did, he would have been with us during the hard times to help us through them but instead he left us to fend for ourselves. We were better off without him because he cared more about himself than he did us."

I didn't know what to say to that so instead just interlocked our fingers and gently squeezed his paw comfortingly. He squeezed my paw back before continuing. "Even after my father left, I tried my best to stay positive about everything. I was still a little kit who thought the world was good, but it became increasingly difficult to maintain that outlook with the constant struggle for food and my mom's increasingly worsening state. Then the incident with the Junior Ranger Scouts happened; that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Since the world wouldn't see me for anything other than a shifty fox, I started conning." Nick paused to take a breath.

Up until this point, Nick had been emotionless in his story-telling. As he began speaking again though, I noticed tears started running down his face and his voice began to choke up, "I was able to hide the conning for a little bit but eventually my mom started wondering where the extra money was coming from. She confronted me and I eventually told her the truth. She was heartbroken to learn that her 'little Nicky' had started breaking the law.

"I ran away from home out of shame, at the age of twelve. For the next few weeks, my mother would call me almost every hour but I ignored every call, unable to bring myself to face her after leaving her. After that, she called once a day and I kept ignoring her. Once a month had gone by I only expected call once every week or so. Eventually she stopped trying. The whole time I was conning, I would send her all the money I had left over after paying for rent and food. I wanted her life to be better than it had been before. I had hoped she would use it to make sure that she didn't have to live like we had after dad left us but I never knew for sure what she did with it.

"For the next 13 years I never once talked to her, wrote her a letter, or communicated with her in any way. I hated myself for leaving her but I couldn't face her after leaving her like I had."

Nick opened his muzzle to speak again but his voice caught in his throat and a strangled sob came out instead. He looked pitiful at the moment. His eyes were bloodshot and his normal lazy, sly façade was gone. His whole face sagged as if under a great weight.

But before I could say something to him about his state, he continued with his story, "Then, one day, I got a call from the hospital. I didn't know what it was about but I picked it up anyway. I was told that my mother had breast cancer, that she didn't have long left to live...and that she wanted to see me," his voice caught again and he let out a few more sobs.

I squeezed his paw again and began gently rubbing his back, careful not to aggravate his wounds. "Nick, you don't have to continue…"

"No. I-It's fine." He stopped his sobbing and composed himself slightly before he began again, "After I got the call, I went to the hospital. But right before I was about to go in, I froze. I had ignored my mother for 13 years and I just couldn't face her knowing that I hadn't once talked to her to even let her know how I was doing for so long. I couldn't bare to see the disappointment in her face or hear it in her voice. So I left."

"Oh, Nick," I said, wrapping him into a big hug. He began crying and I held him even tighter. As he sobbed into my shoulder, I saw the doe ushering her family out of the observation room. She gave me a pitying look before she disappeared to a lower level.

Through his sobs, Nick got out the next part, "I g-got a call th-that night s-saying that my m-m-mother had p-passed away," his sobs reached an all time high, each breath he took shaking violently.

"Shhhhh. Everything is going to be ok, Nick. Everything is going to be ok." I wanted nothing more than to comfort him, to make him forget his pain. His sobs cut through me like a knife and I could feel his pain inside me.

Tears streamed down his face as his shoulders jerked along with each sob but the sadness in his face suddenly turned to rage at my words. I had never seen him so mad before. He had his teeth bared and a snarl escaped his lips. He pulled out of my hug and snapped, "IT'S _NOT_ OK! I LEFT MY MOTHER, HEARTBROKEN AND LONELY, FOR 13 FUCKING YEARS, NEVER ONCE TALKING TO HER! AND THEN WHEN SHE WAS LAYING ON HER DEATHBED, ASKING TO SEE ME ONE LAST TIME, I LEFT HER AGAIN, BECAUSE I WAS TOO FUCKING _SCARED_! WHEN SHE NEEDED ME MOST, I LEFT HER! AND NOW SHE'S DEAD AND I WILL _NEVER_ SEE HER AGAIN," Nick's voice cracked at his last word and his anger reduced itself to uncontrollable sobs once again as he collapsed back onto my shoulder.

Not wanting to trigger another outburst, I simply wrapped my arms back around him in a hug. As Nick continued to cry into me, I was quietly stunned about what I had just learned about the fox I now called my mate. I knew that his childhood had been hard from what he had told me about the Junior Ranger Scouts, but the reality was a whole level up from what I had thought before. He hardly even knew his father other than to resent him for leaving him and his mother. But his mother…he loved his mother deeply but he had hurt her and he hated himself for it. And then she had died and he hadn't even talked to her before she died, let alone make up with her.

The idea was saddening to me, having been so connected with my family for my entire life. But, as selfish as it may sound, I was happy he went through what he did because it led him to me and made him into the fox I loved. If his past hadn't been as horrible as it had, I wouldn't be able to call him my mate or love him as much as I did.

Still, I couldn't help but start to cry with Nick. We sobbed into each other as we embraced, comforting each other. The country scenery approached and faded around us as we sped along in the train—but none of that mattered to us. All that mattered was each other and the sadness we now shared.

* * *

10:03 a.m.

I ran my dull claws through the soft, orange fur of my fox. He lie sleeping next to me, having eventually calmed down enough from his sorrow to rest. The sunlight passing through the glass walls around us reflected off of his fur making him glow with warmth. He looked very peaceful in his sleep, like a little kit. His lazy grin was replaced by a genuine smile, the corners of his mouth upturned slightly. The fur around his eyes was still matted slightly from the tears that had recently flowed there. He looked adorable and I simply loved the feeling of his soft fur.

I was surprised he had let himself open up so much, especially in public. I was fairly certain he had never shown himself that much to anyone, except maybe Finnick since they were so close. I felt giddy at the thought that Nick trusted me so much. I couldn't have asked for anyone better as a mate than Nick. He truly did love and care about me and our relationship. And it certainly didn't hurt that he was great in bed either…

Still, I definitely wanted to talk about his past more in the future but for now I was content that he had told me.

I wanted my parents to accept Nick even more after our talk. The more time we spent together the happier I was to be his mate and the surer I was that I wanted him, I just hoped my parents could see that as well. I couldn't think of anyone I would rather be with. Sadly, I could do little more than hope they would be able to see past their beliefs to see that Nick and I loved each other.

I looked back down at the sleeping fox next to me and planted a tender kiss upon his brow. _After everything he's been through, he deserves a break for once. Hopefully everything goes smoothly._

Despite my optimism, there was nothing I could do to escape the fact that the world doesn't simply conform to one's wishes. And I couldn't quite shake the feeling that something would go wrong. But for now it was just me and my fox and there was no one to disturb how much I loved him.

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) Well then...that was heartbreaking, wasn't it? I hope it was, otherwise I've seriously got to work on my empathy skills. But actually, if this chapter was lacking emotionally at all, please tell me. I want to get better if I can and I can't always tell whether or not what I've written is good or not, so I need you guys to tell me. Write a comment or PM if you have anything to say, even if it's not about my writing skills. I want to hear what you guys have to say.**

 **In regards of the next few chapters, our favorite couple we be visiting the Bunnyburrows. I plan for them to be there for several chapters, I am unsure of exactly how many currently but definitely more than one and I think more than the two, but I'll see when I get there. I already have some plans for things that will happen at the Hopps' and I'm very excited about it so I could end up with quite a few chapter at the Burrows.**

 **That's all I have to say for now. Have a good day, or night depending on when you're reading this. This is Jay, signing off.**


	6. Chapter 6-The Hopps

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act II-The Burrows

Chapter VI-The Hopps

 **(Author's Notes) Howdy! I know a lot of you have been waiting for this meeting between the Hopps and Nick and it's finally here! I'm not sure if any of you noticed, but this chapter marks the beginning of Act II. I actually didn't plan on ending the first act quite yet until I realized that the transition from Zootopia to Bunnyburrows would be a good place for the start of Act II. For anyone wondering, the acts are basically going to be groups of chapters that follow the consequences of one action. For example, the first act followed Nick and Judy as they started their relationship (stating the obvious, I know) and and the reaction of Zootopia. This next act is going to follow Nick and Judy through their trip to Bunnyburrow (I know, you would have never guessed). Sorry if I just sound like Mr. Obvious here, I just wanted to clarify that fact as I've never actually mentioned it before. That being said, I won't delay any of you any more right now. I'll talk more at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"It is difficult, when faced with a situation you cannot control, to admit you can do nothing."

― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

* * *

 **Nick POV**

11:55 a.m. Monday

Something was tickling my ear and I flicked it in annoyance, only to be greeted by the sound of giggling. _Wait. Giggling?_ I opened my eyes to see what was going on just as therabbit sitting right in front of me poked my ear again and giggled.

I sat up in my seat and scowled at my tormentor before opening my maw wide in a yawn. "Why'd you wake me up?" I whined. I had not enjoyed waking up early to head to Bunnyburrow so I was more than disappointed to be woken up in the middle of my make-up nap.

"We're here," Judy replied simply. I looked out the window and saw she was right. Surrounded by many fields was the rapidly approaching Bunnyburrow train station. It was relatively empty, only a few bunnies and a lone sheep waiting on the platform. From where we were, I couldn't see either of Judy's parents which, inexplicably, made me nervous. Although I didn't expect any trouble with the Hopps until they learned of my relationship with Judy I was still apprehensive about meeting them.

The train began to slow down in front of the station. "Come on," Judy told me and stood up to head towards the doors. I picked up both of our suitcases, feeling only a slight discomfort from my injury—I had sneaked some painkillers before we left in the morning so that Judy wouldn't worry about me too much. After I had the suitcases I followed her to join the queue of rabbits and two beavers waiting for the doors to open.

As we stepped out into the beating sun of the station, a renewed wave of nervousness washed over me. _What if they don't like me?_ I thought to myself before I remembered that I had already met them on the phone a couple times before and I already knew they liked me. _I don't need to be so nervous, at least not right now,_ I reasoned to myself, but the feeling stayed.

I looked at Judy who also looked a little apprehensive but generally more at ease than I was. She was looking around the station for something before she broke into a smile and ran off.

 _Here we go I guess,_ I thought, readjusting my grip on the suitcases I was carrying and following her. I approached behind her as she hugged two rabbits, "Mom! Dad! I've missed you guys so much!"

"We've missed you too, Sweetheart," her mother replied as she pulled out of the hug. "It's nice to see you again."

Judy turned to look at me as I came to a stop slightly behind and to the left of her. "Mom, Dad, this is Nick Wilde."

The middle-aged rabbits smiled warmly at me and I politely accepted Stu's pawshake when he extended his paw and Bonnie's hug. Bonnie spoke first, "It's so nice to meet you in person rather than through the phone. We've wanted to meet Judy's partner for a while now."

My stomach twisted, unable to shake the feeling that Judy's parents wouldn't be half as friendly if they knew I was Judy's mate as well as her partner. I did my best to push down the feeling almost as soon as I felt it and forced myself to return the greeting, "It's nice to finally meet you two as well."

"So, where is everyone else?" Judy asked. Her head was swiveling around as she searched the station.

"Oh, all the youngsters are at school. Some of the college kids are at home, studying and what-not," Stu answered cheerfully.

"Oh, right. It's Monday," Judy's ears drooped slightly.

"Aw, you dumb bunny, you," I teased. The jest was supposed to be playful so I was not expecting to see both of Judy's parents tense up at my comment. Stu was scowling slightly at me while Bonnie simply looked uncomfortable. I could feel my ears fold flat across my head and I offered a nervous grin and chuckle.

Luckily, Judy seemed to notice as well because she quickly jumped in, "Oh no no no, it's just a nickname. He doesn't mean anything against bunnies."

Judy's parents stared at me for a few more sentences before, "Whatever you say, Hon," Bonnie skeptically replied. Her expression changed at the drop of a dime and became much more cheerful, "Well, lunch should be ready when we get back if we leave now. I left some of the older kits that are home in charge to finish up the meal while we came to pick you guys up."

"I am pretty hungry actually," I said having realized the extent of my hunger at the mention of food.

Stu and Bonnie led us over to a bunny-sized, maroon mini-van. "Sorry it's so small," Stu apologized to me.

I looked at the car; it was small but not too bad. "I'll be fine," I told him, hoping that was the truth. I stuffed both mine and Judy's suitcase in the trunk before climbing in the back with Judy. The ceiling was _just_ low enough that I had to duck my head slightly to fit but I also found myself pressed up tightly against Judy which more or less made up for that little drawback.

Stu sat in the driver's seat and started driving down a dirt road surrounded by fields on both sides. After a minute of silence, Bonnie turned to face Judy and I from the passenger seat. "Do you two have any idea how long your trip is going to be?"

I didn't know what Judy wanted to tell her parents about the time off we had been given since it might create some awkward questions so I turned to her to answer her mother's question. "Not really," she answered, "We have a lot of vacation days saved up so we can stay for a while if we want."

"That's great!" Bonnie enthused, "You two are welcome to stay as long as you want. We have plenty of space."

"Thank you, Mrs. Hopps. That's very kind."

"Oh, please, call me Bonnie. And it's nothing, you're Judy's friend. You're just as welcome as she is," Bonnie said. Then she added, "I must say though, you have very good manners."

"You can thank my mom for that," the words escaped my mouth before I realized what I was saying. The conversation I had with Judy on the train suddenly came rushing back to me.

I had never told anyone about my parents before but Judy was different. I knew I could trust her completely and, more than that, I _wanted_ to be able to trust her enough to tell her. It was like having the weight of the world off my shoulders for the first time since I was a kid. It felt good to know that I could trust Judy with personal information like I had, especially since she was my mate.

Still, the memory of my parents was very painful. I didn't know what Judy thought of it but I knew that I hated myself for what I had done. Judy would probably want to talk about it at a later time but at the moment she was just looking at me worriedly. "How's the farm doing?" She asked suddenly. I was silently thankful to Judy for the change of subject.

"Well, we got a large crop of carrots growing…" the conversation turned to farming but I tuned it out and instead just alternated between watching the countryside, which I had never seen before, and Judy beside me.

By the time Stu announced that we had arrived I was perfectly happy, no residual sadness from the memories of my past remaining. I got out, happy to finally be able to extend my neck fully again, and went to the trunk to get the suitcases.

Then I finally set my eyes upon the Hopps' family house. It appeared to be roughly the size of a football field with three stories. The wood slats that made up the walls were all painted a sky blue with white trim. A porch wrapped around one side of the house to the front ending after it passed the front door.

"What do you think?" Judy asked from beside me expectantly.

"I think it looks very cozy," I answered honestly. It was very rustic looking and the blue paint made it feel very warm and friendly. It was a far cry from the harshness of downtown Zootopia.

Bonnie led us inside where we entered what appeared to be the living room. It was filled by many couches, chairs, bean bags, and other cushions of various sizes, shapes, and color. All of the assorted seats faced one wall where an utterly enormous flat screen TV that could rival a miniature jumbotron was mounted on the wall. The room appeared to be able to fit all of Judy's 275 siblings at once with some extra room.

"You can just leave your bags here for now," Bonnie told who then left the room for what I assumed to be the kitchen based on the smell emanating from it. I left the bags by the door in the living room and then followed Judy and Stu as they entered a door next to the kitchen.

My jaw dropped as soon as I stepped into the new room. It must have been the dining room but it resembled something closer to the great hall of a medieval castle. The table could easily seat a hundred bunnies at a time.

I heard a chuckle coming from Stu somewhere in front of me and I realized that I had just been standing in the doorway staring stupidly at the table. I walked in a little further before asking, "Does this table fit your whole family?"

"No, we normally have to do two shifts whenever everyone is around, although since it's lunch and most of the kids are at school there's more than enough room," Stu replied, amusement still evident in his face.

This time Judy giggled at my shock as well. Stu was sitting at the head of the table and Judy was sitting on his left hand side. I finally shook off my shock and took a seat next the Judy.

Almost as soon as I sat down, Bonnie and a group of 11 bunnies I assumed were some of Judy's siblings entered carrying bowls and plates of food. They lay it all out on the table before they all took a seat themselves.

"Nick, dear," Bonnie said, "I wasn't sure what to make for you to eat but I cooked some beetles I hope you'll like. I've never made beetles before"

"Thank you, Bonnie, that's very thoughtful. I'm sure they'll be good. And just so you know, I do eat vegetable as well."

Bonnie smiled warmly, "Don't worry about it, dear. It's good to know you'll be able to eat the other food as well."

I loaded my plate with a healthy amount of beetles and also got a bowl of salad made from various vegetables and some tomatoes. The salad was fresh and delicious and the beetles tasted fine for Bonnie's first time making them.

After a minute of silent eating, Stu finally started a conversation, "So, how's life in the Big City."

Judy spoke up, "Oh, it's great. Everything's always so busy and even after a year I'm still never bored; especially with my job. Being a police officer is really exciting work and Nick is the best partner I could ever hope to have."

I wasn't sure how much of what Judy just said was exaggeration for her parents sake but it still warmed me to hear her talk about me like that. "I couldn't agree more, Fluff."

"Has anything dangerous happened recently, besides the thing with the raccoon?" Stu asked with the air of a worrying parent,

"Actually, yes. But not on the job. Nick got attacked by a zebra with a knife yesterday. Got him pretty good on the back."

Instantly Bonnie was up and next to me worriedly asking, "Oh my goodness, dear, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine. It wasn't that serious. The doctors just gave me some stitches and then I was released. I don't even feel it right now." It was the truth but I knew that the painkillers would wear off soon and then I would feel the pain again.

"Ok, if you say you're fine…" Bonnie's worrying made me think, once again, that if she knew that I had fucked her daughter she might not be so caring.

Suddenly, a very loud crunch from right next to me attracted the attention of everyone at the table. Judy had half of a beetle in one hand and was happily chewing on the other half, completely oblivious to the stares she was getting. All of the rabbits were staring at her bug-eyed (pun intended) until she noticed the silence and looked at her family.

Her ears suddenly fell behind her head and a blush appeared beneath her fur. "What? They're good," she said sheepishly.

"Judy!" Stu exclaimed in shock, "What has that city done to you? A rabbit eating bugs! When did you start doing that?"

Judy's hesitance only increased as she shyly said, "Just this Saturday, actually. Nick tricked me into it but I actually liked them."

Stu's attention flicked to me, "You tricked her, eh?" he asked threateningly.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat before Judy snapped, "DAD!"

Stu broke out into a laugh suddenly and Judy and I looked between each other and him in confusion. "I was only joking, you two. It was just a harmless prank between friends, all mammals do it. I'm not going to hold it against you for being a fox, Nick, I'm past that. Although I still think it's strange you like bugs." Both Judy and I visibly relaxed before he continued, "You know, if you were a rabbit Nick, I might think you and Judy were mates based on how you two act with each other."

I tensed up at what Stu just said and my ears involuntarily folded against my head while my tail attempted to tuck between my legs even though I was sitting. That statement basically just proved that Stu at least did not believe in interspecies relationships. Judy gave a halfhearted chuckle beside me and I could tell that she was just as uncomfortable as I was.

"Stu, stop embarrassing them," Bonnie chided, completely misinterpreting mine and Judy's reaction.

Judy stood up suddenly, "Well this lunch has been lovely but I think Nick and I should get our stuff set up now."

"Oh, of course, Honey. You'll have guest rooms A and B now that some of your sisters moved into your old room."

"Ok, thanks Mom." Judy grabbed the neck of my shirt and half-dragged me to the living room while I silently choked. Judy released me and I grabbed our suitcases and followed her up some stairs and down a hallway to the guestrooms. All the while I remained uneasy from what Stu had said. Judy appeared to be upset as well from the way her ears drooped behind her head and her silence.

When we reached two doors at the end of the hallway she grabbed her bag from me and threw it into one of the rooms before grabbing me and dragging me into the other one. I waited for her to close the door and turn to face me, at which point she groaned, "I can't believe that just happened."

"Y'know, telling your parents about us is starting to seem like a bad idea."

"Even if my dad doesn't accept interspecies couples, there's still the newspaper. We have to tell them or they'll find out anyway."

"I know but I still don't like it. I hate not being able to control what people know about our personal life. It's our life, not anyone else's, so why should they get to control what we do," I finally vented my frustration at the whole thing. I had almost forgot about the newspaper and the fact that all of Zootopia knew that Judy and I were in a relationship but now that I was reminded all my frustration came back.

"I know, Nick. I hate it too, but we'll get through it, together." I still didn't like it but Judy was right. I had gotten through ridicule and prejudice my whole life alone and now, with Judy, I felt stronger than I ever had before. So long as I had her, I would be ok.

"You're right. Can we cuddle in the bed for a while?" I affectionately nuzzled her face. "All this mushy talk is making me feel the need to hug my favorite bunny."

Judy sighed, "You're such a big softie, you know that?" She tried sounding annoyed but I could tell she really wanted to cuddle too. My hunch was proven correct when she locked the door and motioned me towards the bed.

My tail started wagging happily as Judy and I made our way over to the bed. She got in first and faced me. I got in then and wrapped her in my arms and tail. I placed my head between her two ears so that my chin rested on her head. Judy burrowed further into the fur of my neck and hummed softly.

"I love you, Carrots."

"I love you too, Nick." I let all the tension and frustration I had just felt leave me when Judy returned my words. I had my little bunny and that was all that mattered.

* * *

 **Judy POV**

3:26 p.m.

 _Knock knock knock._

My eyes shot open at the noise and my ears twitched, only to be stopped by something between them. "Judy, are you in there?" A small, high-pitched voice asked. I sat up fully when I heard the voice. Nick was working on getting up beside me but I started shaking him anyway.

"Hmmmm. Wha's up?" As if in answer to his question, there was another knock at the door. "Oh," was all Nick said.

We both got out of the bed and I then went and unlocked and opened the door. I found my 6-year old sister Rebecca standing outside. It seemed that the young kits were back from school.

"What were you and Mr. Fox doing in the room?" Rebecca asked innocently.

"Rebecca, this is Nick," I said, pointing at the fox standing behind me. "We were talking about...police stuff," I offered.

"Oh," Rebecca said simply. She turned to face Nick, "I don't know what Caleb was talking about, you don't look scary at all. You look nice and fluffy." I couldn't help but smile at her adorableness.

"I'm extremely fluffy," Nick said as he stepped out of the room.

"I want to show you to my brothers and sisters," Rebecca told him and grabbed Nick's paw, "Come on," she tugged at him slightly and Nick started to follow her. He looked too cute being led around by the little bunny and it pulled at my heart-strings.

I followed the two until they entered the living room where the vast majority of my siblings were watching TV. As soon as we stepped in, almost everyone turned their attention to Nick. No one said anything and the blanketing silence slowly got more and more awkward. I finally decided that I would step in to diffuse the tension, "Everyone, this is Nick, my partner at the ZPD."

As soon as I introduced Nick, all of the younger kits got up and swarmed around Nick. Before he could do anything, Nick's knees buckled from the pressure of the many young kits and he crumpled into a heap. Like a swarm of ants, my siblings scrambled over and around him, burying him in a warm, fuzzy mass of small bunnies.

The scene was ridiculous and I fought hard to not laugh out loud, and instead scolded, "Guys, get off of Nick."

The kits groaned and whined but they all got off anyway. When the grey-brown blur cleared, I saw Nick lying on the ground...with his face screwed up in pain. I dropped to my knees next to him, wondering what exactly had happened—then I remembered his back. "Nick, are you ok?"

Nick showed no attempt to answer me and some of my siblings started sniffling and crying. "Did we hurt him?"

"Oh no, we didn't mean to hurt him."

Then in the blink of an eye, Nick was sitting up. His face was still screwed up but he otherwise showed no signs of the pain he had just been in. "Shhhhhh, it's ok. I'm fine, see. I just hurt my back a little before I came here is all." Some of the kits' sniffling slowed at Nick's words. "Come one. I hate seeing sad bunnies. Ask your sister. I'm not mad at you guys." He was petting the rabbits closest to him between the ears comfortingly.

Before long, Nick had all of the kits calmed down and they were all back to their normal, cheery state. I smiled happily at Nick's interactions with my brothers and sisters.

"He'd make a great father," I jumped at the sudden appearance of my mom behind me. Once I got over my shock though I smiled at her statement. Maybe if my mom saw how good of a person Nick was... "The vixen that ends up with him will be extremely lucky." And just like that the hope was gone. The _vixen_ , not the mammal, that ends up with Nick. The unintended implications of the statement revealed how she felt about interspecies relationships. Both my parents had already confirmed they didn't believe in interspecies relationships and they didn't even know I was in one yet. _Oh boy._

My mother spoke again, interrupting my thoughts, "Dinner should be ready by six," my mom began walking to the kitchen but she stopped suddenly and faced me again, "Oh, and Tris is visiting," and then she entered the kitchen and left me in silence.

As if on cue, I heard someone call for me, "Judy!" I turned and saw my sister come through the front door. "I heard you were visiting so I came to see you."

Tris and I were littermates of our parents oldest litter. More than just sisters though, we were best friends. Tris was the only one of my family members that supported my dreams so I found myself around her often. After I had moved to Zootopia I hadn't seen her as much but my mom told me she got married to a nice buck and they moved into their own burrow.

Tris ran up to me and crushed me in a strong hug which I readily returned. "How is it in Zootopia?"

"It's great I love it!" seeing my sister was a great distraction from my parent troubles.

Tris smiled bawdily at me, "Would that maybe have something to do with the boy I can smell on you?"

My ears dropped in shock and my mouth opened before I regained my bearings, "Shhhh, not here," I half whispered.

Tris gave me a sly look but thankfully I was saved by Nick, "Hey Judy, is that another one of your sisters?" Nick seemed to have extricated himself from the many rabbits and walked over to where Tris and I stood.

"Nick! This is my sister Tris, we're littermates. Tris, this is my partner at the ZPD, Nick Wilde."

Nick extended his paw for a pawshake. "It's nice to eat you."

Tris glanced at me uneasily but I was too busy scowling at Nick to acknowledge her. After a couple seconds Nick burst out laughing. I groaned, "Niiiick. Do you have to do that to every bunny you meet?"

Nick was wiping tears out of his eyes, "Hey, I didn't do it to your parents," he pointed out.

"No, you didn't," I conceded, "But that's just because you wanted to make a good first impression."

Tris suddenly gasped beside me. I turned to see her silently working her jaw, her eyes wide. I didn't know what Tris was thinking but I was pretty sure it wouldn't be good. "Hey Nick, is it ok if Tris and I go somewhere to catch up?"

Something started tugging on Nick's right arm and we all looked down to see my younger brother Oliver clasped onto Nick's paw with his own tiny ones. "Nick, awre you gonna watch a movie wit' us?"

"Yeah, sure thing buddy," he looked back up to me, "You guys go. I'll be fine." Then him and Oliver walked back over to the couch and the horde of rabbits where a movie was in the process of being set up.

Tris seemed to be regaining control of her senses when I said, "Come on, let's go to my room." We walked in silence to the guest room I had been given and sat on the bed across from each other. "What is it?" I asked her.

"You and Nick. It's him I smell on you."

My heart sank, this was not how I wanted anyone to find out about my relationship with Nick. "And? Like I said we're partners on the ZPD. We spend a lot of time together," I tried to play ignorant but my sister wasn't having any of it.

"That doesn't explain why you two smell like each other's sex."

I sighed, there was no getting out of this, "Alright, fine. We...we may be mates. H-how'd you know? Nobody else could smell anything."

"Hypersensitive olfactory receptors, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Tris had been born with an extremely acute sense of smell much stronger than a normal bunny's which had led to some pretty funny situations. "Remember that time Mr. Jeffreys and Mrs. Spots came out of the staff room and you could smell—"

"Yes, I remember. But don't change the subject. How long have you been mates?"

"Wait, that's it? You don't think it's weird or anything? You're not going to say it's unnatural or something?" I expected a little bit more of a reaction from my sister when she found out beyond just a little shock so I was kind of thrown off guard by the lackluster reaction.

"Well it's a bit unexpected maybe. And I don't think a fox and a bunny specifically have been mates before but it's not like interspecies relationships aren't a thing already. And I'm not like our parents, I could care less about whether or not someone falls in love with a member of a different species. They still love them right? But you still haven't answered my question: How long?"

"Well...actually just three days ago. I didn't realize how much Nick meant to me until it suddenly hit me, hit both of us actually, at the same time last Saturday," I thought back on that night dreamily, the night Nick and I discovered our love…

"Wait wait wait. So you two fell in love and became mates in _the same night?_ Don't you think you might be moving kind of fast?"

Now that Tris said it, I realized that Nick and I _did_ kind of move pretty fast. Although I didn't regret it one bit, I knew that we had the right of it. "It might seem like that but Nick and I have known each other for a year now. I trust him and he trusts me, it's sort of important considering we're partners on the force. And we've gotten along for that year perfectly. Being mates doesn't change that very much except that we trust each other even more now and we're...romantically involved.

"Regardless, I have absolutely no regrets and I know Nick doesn't either. I care about him more than anything I've ever cared about and there's no one I would rather have as my mate."

Tris seemed thoughtful for a few moments before replying, "I can definitely see it. You two make a good couple."

I smiled at her, "Thanks, Tris."

Tris returned the smiled, "There's no need to thank me I didn't do anything. I do have a question, though."

This had my curiosity piqued, "What is it?"

"Well, ummm...how does... _it_ work? He's so much _bigger_ than you."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "Are you asking me how the _sex_ is?"

Tris looked down at the bed impishly, "Well...yeah."

I worked to stifle a small giggle, the curiosity of my sister knew no bounds. "Someone's being exceedingly nosey. But it was amazing, actually."

"Did it hurt? Was he gentle?" Her curiosity seemed to be fueled by my answer as her shyness began to taper away to be replaced by her insatiable inquisitiveness.

"Not really. He was very gentle. I basically had to force him to do everything and he kept telling me we didn't have to."

"I'm happy you found such a loving mate. Do Mom and Dad know yet?"

There it was again, the uneasiness of having to tell my parents about the relationship. "No, we're planning on telling them tomorrow," I confessed.

"They might not be quite as understanding, you should be careful."

"I know. Nick and I would've waited longer so they could get to know Nick more first but that option's sort of out the window."

"What do you mean?" Tris cocked her head to the side questioningly.

I quickly explained to her the events of the past few days. How Nick got attacked and the newspaper that caused it. "...and I realized that the paper would come out here and Mom and Dad would find out so we came here to tell them in person first," I finally finished my tale.

Tris' ears were ducked behind her head and somewhere during the story she had placed her paws over her mouth but now she took them away, "I'm so sorry. Hopefully Mom and Dad won't overreact."

I did hope that my parents would be accepting but I would have preferred to have more time to prepare before I had to tell them. It was so frustrating not being able to control the situation. No matter what I decided to do, my parents would find out about my relationship with Nick and I could only talk to them and try to get them to accept my relationship with Nick.

I was dreading tomorrow.

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) You're back! You read the chapter? Good. Now, firstly, I know that this chapter is late...again. I'm sorry that two chapters in a row now have been late and I hate it. I do my best to get the chapters out on Saturday but obviously that hasn't been working out. I'll see if I can get the next one out on time and hopefully get everything back on schedule.**

 **Other than that, this chapter introduces the first major OC, Tris. I have some plans for her coming up soon so prepare yourselves.**

 **There were also a couple cases of dramatic irony if anyone caught them. Bonnie and Stu's ignorance of Nick and Judy's relationship really led to some awkward situation there didn't it. Well, their ignorance won't last for much longer as next chapter is going to be the big reveal. I wonder how it will go, it's not like I'm the author and know what's going to happen or anything, pfftt.**

 **That's it for now. I'll see you again on Saturday(hopefully). This is Jay, signing off.**


	7. Chapter 7-Secret Snuggles

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act II-The Burrows

Chapter VII-Secret Snuggles

 **(Author's Notes) Hello all you lovely people! I have some things to say about this chapter, some of which may not be very pleasing. Firstly, this chapter is shorter and filled with literally just fluff. The reason being that I simply didn't have enough time to write a normal chapter in the time between Monday (when I finished the last chapter) and today while also doing soccer on those days. I have been trying to do it since chapter five came out late but it's just not working. Hopefully this will let me get chapter eight out on time and everything will be back on schedule.**

 **This means that the big reveal to the Hopps will actually be coming next Saturday and I'm very upset that this is what happened but that's just the way things turned out. Given that this chapter is basically just filler it is completely unnecessary for you to read this chapter. It won't be important for anything in the future so feel free to skip it if you want.**

 **Also, I am going on vacation for the week and I'm not sure what time I'll have for writing while I'm away. I'll do my best to write what I can but I'll be restricted to using my phone only so it will be a little harder. I already have the chapter outlined so it should take me less time than normal. Fingers crossed that I'm able to get the chapter finished by next Saturday. If I don't get it out on Saturday or Sunday, I'm probably going to wait until the week after and begin work on the next chapter so I'll have a head start and I can get a little ahead of the game.**

 **Finally, something was brought to my attention that has me mentally beating myself up. In the comments, Bagnome pointed out that it appears all the characters only receive their news from the newspaper as if all other forms of media (radio, TV, phones, etc.) don't exist. I have absolutely no idea what was going through my head as I was writing this story that made me miss such an obvious flaw in the story's plot. Sadly, I can't really see any way to solve this problem unless, as Bagnome said, the Hopps don't use any other form of media, which seems highly improbable. The Hopps not knowing about Nick and Judy's relationship is very important to the story as it is what causes Nick and Judy to go to the Burrows in the first place. As such, I can't very well change it to fix the flaw without drastically changing half of everything else that happens. If anyone knows of a way this problem can be solved without causing the rest of the story to change too much please send me a PM detailing how. Until a way is found to correct my error, I can only say to pretend that the Hopps have somehow missed the news of Nick and Judy's relationship in all other forms of media. It's a horrible solution, I know, but it's the best I got for now. Hopefully you can look past the plot hole and enjoy the rest of the story.**

 **Ok, rant over, enjoy this fluffy chapter**

* * *

I don't really have a quote specific for this chapter so I'm just putting a random one in instead **.**

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." — J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

* * *

 **(I've decided that since this chapter is unimportant to everything else I would write it in 3rd person instead. Tell me how I did in the comments and give any suggestions you have.)**

11:23 p.m. Monday

Nick lay awake in his bed, unable to find it in himself to sleep. His thoughts lingered on the inevitable talk with Judy's parents that the morning would bring.

He wished that Judy were here with him but sadly she was sleeping in the room next door. He wanted to be able to hold her and forget about all of their worries but alas, he would have to brave it alone tonight.

Suddenly, he heard a very light knock on his door. "Nick," he heard someone say in a loud whisper, "Are you awake?"

Nick's heart soared at the sound of the voice. He rushed to throw off his covers, not bothering to put clothes into his currently naked body, and throw open the door. A grin split his face when he set his eyes upon his bunny mate, Judy. "I can't sleep while I'm busy missing you," he responded in an equally hushed voice.

"You're so corny you know that," she said before pushing her Nick back into the room. Closing and locking the door, she turned to face Nick who had sat back on the bed. "I would've come sooner but I wanted to make sure everyone was asleep first."

"I don't care. I'm glad you came at all. Do we have to worry about anyone?"

In answer, Judy lunged into Nick's lap and began to passionately kiss him with reckless abandon. Nick wasted no time in returning her affection and placed both his paws on the back of her head, mashing her face as far into his as possible.

Without breaking the kiss, Nick moved his paws to grasp Judy by the waist and lifted her off his lap. He twisted his body to place her down on the bed but doing so sent a sharp pain to run through his back. Against his will, a cry of pain made its way through the kiss. Judy broke the kiss at the sound and placed both of her paws on Nick's chest. "What's wrong?" She asked, worry evident in her voice.

Nick knew that avoiding the truth would be a futile goal and decided to just let it out, "My back," he told her.

Judy stifled a small giggle, "You make it sound like your _old_ and have back pains."

"Well I _am_ older than you by 8 years and I _do_ have back pains," he jokingly pointed out.

She giggled again, but her face became slightly more serious, "I guess we'll have to keep things take until your back heals up, huh."

"Yeah...we can still cuddle though," he said hopefully.

"Maybe for a little, but I'll have to leave before we go to sleep. My parents can't find us together in the morning before we tell them about us."

"Awww, come on," Nick whined, "please." He widened his eyes and let his lower lip quiver in his best attempt at a puppy dog face.

His begging seemed to have its desired effect as Judy quickly caved, "Ok, fine, dumb fox. We can sleep together, but we'll have to wake up really early tomorrow so I can sneak out without anyone noticing." Nick instantly became much happier and his tail wagged enthusiastically in the air behind him.

Nick and Judy got into the bed together and Judy nestled herself in Nick's chest fur while Nick wrapped his arms around her.

As the two settled down for the night they were almost able to forget about what they would have to do tomorrow. Almost. But for the time being, in the arms of the mammal they cared about most, they both fell into a deep, relaxing sleep. They would need it for tomorrow.

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) Aaaaand, cut! Was that a little bit of foreshadowing at the end there? Hmm. Well, you'll all see when the next chapter comes out. I hope you all enjoyed this fluffy little short despite it not holding much importance to the story.**

 **Like I said, I'm going on vacation for the week so I'll see what I can do in terms of writing. In the meantime, if you could all leave anything you have to say, especially advice/criticism, please tell me either by PM or in the comments, both work.**

 **This is Jay, signing off.**


	8. This Is An Update! Not A Chapter

**This is not a chapter, this is just me talking about some stuff. First off, I'm back from vacation but sadly I didn't find the time to write the entirety of chapter 8 while I was gone. I'll try to get it done for next week and get we've everything back on track.**

 **Now, there was a comment about Nick and Judy's age based upon what I wrote in chapter 5 so I want to clear that up. Nick was muzzled when he was 8 or 9 based off of the canon. I then added, as part of my own story, that Nick ran away from home at the age of 12. For the next 13 years, he didn't talk to his mom. Then, at the age of 25, Nick's mother died. I never stated this specifically, but Nick's mother died** _ **8 years prior**_ **to the events in this story. This places Nick's age at 33 during this story which is correct canonically since I said this story takes place about a year after the events of the movie. This means that Judy is 25 during this story and that is also canonically correct. I believe the confusion came from the fact that I never explicitly stated that it's been 8 years since Nick's mom died so I hope that this clears that up. If not please let me know in greater depth so I can figure out where I went wrong and make the appropriate corrections.**

 **Now onto the bigger thing. As I stated in last chapter, it was pointed out that the Hopps should be able to learn about Nick and Judy's relationship through the TV or some other form of media besides a newspaper. I asked all of you to give me suggestions on how I could resolve this problems and you guys delivered. The wonderful user, Matri, said that the Hopps would most likely not receive news channels on their TV or radio from Zootopia without some form of boosters or satellite TV, seeing as the Hopps live all the way in Bunnyburrow. For the sake of making the story work, we're going to assume the Hopps have neither and are thus limited to local stations which do not hold news about Zootopia. As a result, the Hopps can't receive the news of Nick and Judy's relationship from either source, eliminating them both from potential plot holes. That leaves phones. Thankfully, I was able to come up with a solution for those as well. Being the old-fashioned bunnies they are, Mr. And Mrs. Hopps simply don't use their phones as social media tools and thus don't learn about the relationship there. Judy's siblings, on the other hand, are a different story. While they most likely use social media I don't really see any of them following news companies or articles. While there are undoubtedly kids in the real world that do follow news companies out there I don't feel as if there are many and I would expect this trend to carry over in the Zootopia universe. For the small number of Hopps kids that might follow the news with their phone, I would expect almost none of them to focus on Zootopia news. If there are still any Hopps left in the small category of kits that follow Zootopia news specifically, I feel that it is safe to assume they have simply missed any stories about Nick and Judy, especially considering that it only became news the day before and there is only the one story about it so far. Now, with the other forms of media out of the way, the newspaper is left open to bring the news of Nick and Judy's relationship to the citizens of Bunnyburrow. Hopefully this fixes the plot hole as satisfactorily as possible. If not, be sure to tell me so I can go over it again.**

 **I think that's all for now. Hope you all aren't too disappointed that this isn't an actual chapter. Like I said, tell me if there are still inconsistencies in the story so I can try to fix them. But for now, this is Jay, signing off.**


	9. Chapter 8-Coming Out

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act II-The Burrows

Chapter VIII-Coming Out

 **(Author's Notes) Hi. The new chapter is finally here after two weeks, sorry about that. I don't really think I have much to say right now so enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."— Dr. Seuss

* * *

 **Judy POV**

8:15 a.m. Tuesday

"Judy, Dear, are you alright?"

"Hmm," I looked up at my mom who was staring at me from across the table, concern etched into every feature of her face, "Oh, yes, Mom," I told her. We were sitting at the dining table for breakfast—a meal which was almost over. A pit had formed in my stomach which only got bigger as each second ticked by, bringing me closer and closer to the meal's end.

"Are you sure you're ok?" my mother asked again. I knew that she that she had every right to be worried about me considering how anxious I no doubt looked but that didn't stop me from wishing she would stop asking. Constantly being reminded of the source of my nervousness was doing nothing to lessen its effect on me.

"Mom, I'm fine." That was a complete lie. I felt anything but fine sitting in my seat at the dining table. Even all the hard days on the job at the ZPD and the academy didn't even come close to making me as scared as I was now. I wasn't normally the type of bunny to be scared about things but I felt that my current situation more than warranted my worry. Nick and I had agreed, before we went downstairs for breakfast, that we would tell my parents about our relationship after the meal was over.

My mom still looked worried but she didn't say anything else after that. I glanced at Nick who was sitting beside me. He gave me a quick smile before turning his attention to the food in front of him. Just being near Nick and seeing him made me feel slightly better but he couldn't completely make the feeling go away. Yes, he was going to be with me when I finally told my parents but the fact that I was with him, or the reaction other people would have about us being together, was sort of the whole reason I was nervous in the first place.

Clean-up came all too quickly for my liking. It seemed like it was only seconds after I had sat down when my siblings got up to finish getting ready for school or work in the fields for those who had graduated.

I spared one last look at Nick who gave a slight nod before I said, "Mom, Dad, can Nick and I talk with you guys?" That was the easy part but now I had forced myself into a position where I would have to follow through with the harder part. That was probably for the best though because I probably would have chickened out if given the chance.

My mom's worried look which she had retained for most of the meal turned into one of slight confusion, her ears dropping a fraction of an inch, but she quickly put on a cheerful smile. "Of course, Dear. We can talk once all your siblings leave for school. Why don't you two wait in the living room."

I nodded and Nick and I went to the living room—where rabbits of all ages were running through, hurrying to get ready—and sat down on a three-rabbit couch that comfortably fit Nick and I together seeing as he was larger than the average rabbit. We were silent, sitting their in the living room, only giving each other occasional glances, glances full of semi-encouraging looks and partially reassuring smiles.

The wait was killing me, all it did was give me more time to think of all the ways this could go wrong. I just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible now that I was committed to doing it. Then at least I could stop worrying about _which_ reaction my parents would have and start trying to work on getting them to accept my relationship with Nick.

There was a lull in the activity of rabbits in the living room momentarily and I realized that Nick and I were completely alone. Nick quickly grabbed my tiny paw in his relatively large one and gave it a quick squeeze before letting it go again as if nothing had happened. As small as the gesture was it meant a lot to me. Maybe the reaction others had to me being with Nick was why I was so nervous but I realized that that didn't matter. What mattered was that Nick loved me, I loved him, and we were going to get through this together no matter what others thought. If they wouldn't accept us it didn't matter because I knew what I wanted and I wanted to be with Nick. My resolve hardened, _I'm doing this._

The kits that were heading off to school began to file into the room while my parents entered and stood by the door to see them off. Every rabbit that walked through that door brought me one step closer to the talk with my parents and I felt the pit in my stomach growing again—I may have psyched myself out enough to tell my parents but that didn't mean that it wasn't still nerve-racking as all hell.

Before I knew it, the last of my siblings were out the door and my parents were waving goodbye at them from the doorway. They closed the door and moved to stand in front of Nick and I before my mother spoke up, "Now, what did you want to talk about, Jude?"

Here it was, this was it. I was going to tell my parents that Nick and I were mates. I suddenly found the floor extremely interesting and stared at it without really focusing on anything in particular. Every horrible outcome I had imagined rushed through my head at that moment delivering a hard blow to my already not-very-strong confidence. I suddenly wanted to just run away, back to Zootopia with Nick, but that wasn't an option. Zootopia was too dangerous for Nick and I for the time being now that everyone had learned about our relationship. Also the newspaper was due to arrive in Bunnyburrow any time now and then my parents would find out regardless. I knew I had to just go for it. It was like ripping off a band-aid; the longer I drew it out the worse it would feel, I had to do it quickly. _Ok, deep breath. 1...2...3...GO!_ "Nick-and-I-are-mates" I blurted out, my words blurring together into an incomprehensible mob of sound.

"What was that, Hon?" my mother politely asked, a kind smile on her face. My father was silently chuckling at me as well. They hadn't understood what I said. I was speaking too fast.

I took a calming breath, "Nick and I," another breath. I looked up at my parents, "Are mates."

Absolute silence, not even the sounds of birds chirping or the rustle of leaves in the wind. It was like time had decided to stop just to add more awkwardness to the situation. I could only guess what my parents were thinking based on their facial expressions. My mom's kind smile had changed to one of shock, her eyebrows raised so high it looked like they might fall off if they went any further. Her nose was twitching furiously and I knew that Nick would normally call it cute if the situation weren't so serious. My dad had stopped chuckling so abruptly I wouldn't have thought it possible. His eyes and mouth appeared to perpetually opened as wide as they could go as they hadn't changed in the slightest since he heard what I said.

I found myself hoping for an end to the silence, anything, so long as the unbearable quiet ended. I just wanted my parents to say something, yell, scream, anything so that I would at least know what they were thinking. Perhaps I should have been more careful what I wished for.

I felt an unexpected paw grab onto mine and looked to see that Nick's paw had enveloped mine once again. The movement seemed to snap my dad out of his trance as he finally snapped his mouth shut at the gesture. This was only momentary however as he quickly opened his mouth back up except this time a look of outrage adorned his face rather than one of surprise. "What!?" he cried, "You're joking, right!?"

My mom broke out of her stupor upon hearing the voice of her husband. She grabbed onto his arm, "Stu, don't overreact—"

"Overreact!?" my dad interrupted, wrenching his arm free from my mother's grasp, "I'm not overreacting! My daughter's dating a fucking fox!"

"Dad!" I scolded, "Don't you dare say that about Nick!" I jumped up angrily. I had never actually heard my father curse before and I sure as hell wasn't happy that I was seeing this side of him directed at Nick.

My dad rounded on me, "You!" he jabbed a finger roughly into my chest, "How could you let yourself be seduced by this conniving piece of filth? I thought I raised you better than that."

I saw Nick wince out of the corner of my eye but it was only for a second and he soon adopted a stoic expression. He was obviously hurt by my father's words just as much as I was surprised by them. I wasn't expecting this from my dad. Sure, I expected him to be against me being in an interspecies relationship but I definitely didn't expect my dad to say such speceist nonsense. "First of all," I began, taking a step towards my father, who stubbornly held his ground, "he did _not_ seduce me, if anything I seduced him so don't you _dare_ blame him for that," I growled at him before continuing, "And second of all, how could you call Nick that? I thought you got over your stereotypes. You liked him just fine yesterday. Has everything just been a lie from you for the past year?" I thought my dad had been able to get past his prejudices but now I was able to see the true side of him that he had tried to hide from me and I hated, no, despised it.

"That was before I learned he got you into a disgusting interspecies relationship. Obviously I shouldn't have been so kind," he spat, "He's the worst kind of fox there is! An ex-criminal, a liar, he even tricked you into being okay with eating beetles. Prey aren't supposed to do that!" his voice rose incredulously as he said the last sentence.

"You don't know him like I do, Dad!" I snapped angrily, "He's a cop now and he's the nicest guy I know. He's saved my life before, you know, if it weren't for him I wouldn't even be here. Instead I'd be dead and you would have lost a daughter and we wouldn't even be able to have this conversation."

I could see the pain in my father's eye as that truth set in. "NO! I refuse to see my daughter with—with some fox that has a fetish for rabbits," he turned away from me leaving me in a slight shock that he had just said that and I could see that my mother was shocked as well. _Coward_ , I thought bitterly, _Stubborn piece of shit. He's avoiding what I said because knows I'm right but he won't accept it._

Nick, for reasons known only by him, chose this as the perfect time to speak up, "W-with all due respect, Sir," my father turned to look at him again, "I don't have a fetish for rabbits, I only have a fetish for Judy," Nick grinned weakly at his joke but a scowl crossed my father's face; he was not amused.

Perhaps any other time that comment would have gotten a laugh from me but now was not the time. He could very well have ruined any chance we had of getting my father to accept us with that little remark of his. I sharply turned to look at Nick, shooting him daggers, "Nick. Shut. Up," I forced as much anger into my words as possible without screaming; my quarrel wasn't with him. I looked back at my father again, "It doesn't change anything just because we're different species. I love Nick and he loves me and it doesn't matter whether you refuse to see your daughter with some fox because Nick and I are already mates."

My dad's shock returned tenfold and he began pacing before he yelled, "That's even worse! He's a fucking fox! He'll leave you and break your heart," he gesticulated wildly with his arms. "It's in his nature," another wince from Nick, and this time his ears folded as well, "it's bound to happen. Then where will you be? Us rabbits, we mate for life. You'll never be able to have another mate once that happens."

I was getting sicker and sicker of my dad's speceist comments the longer this argument went on. "Dad, listen to yourself. 'It's in his nature'," I mimicked disgustedly, "do you have any idea how speceist that is? Or how untrue that is? Nick won't leave me just like I won't leave him. Foxes mate for life too, he can't leave me just as much as I can't leave him—not that either of us want to—and we're going to be together until we die. We've both made this decision and there's nothing anyone can do that will change that."

"So you're saying that you and that...that _fox_ ," he nodded in Nick's direction, "are going to continue your... _relationship,"_ he forced the word out with apparent difficulty, like it made him want to vomit.

"Yes," I dared to let in a shimmer of hope that _maybe_ my dad would give in.

"Well in that case…you're going to have to leave," he said rather calmly as he stopped pacing.

"What!?" I was shocked. My father was just going to kick me and Nick out. To hear those words actually come out of my father's mouth was like something out of one of my worst dreams. Actually, it sort of was something out of one of my daydreams about this moment. I had gone through plenty of scenarios in my head about how this could go down but this was one I had deemed too severe to be the outcome.

"Stu!" Apparently my mom agreed that my father was being rather harsh.

My father, however, remained unmoved by his wife's attempt at a reprimand, "I refuse to play host to an interspecies couple, it's unnatural, unethical, and I will _not_ let that into my house. OUT!" he finished, yelling once again.

It took me a few seconds to regain my composure but when I did I moved with a purpose. If my father wanted Nick and I to leave his speceist thoughts than I would gladly do so. I grabbed Nick's paw and began tugging on it to get him to stand up, "Come on Nick. We don't have to listen to this speceist bastard any longer."

"Judy!" my mother scolded, "Don't talk about your father like that!" _Great, Mom too,_ I thought.

I paused at my tugging and stared my mother dead in the eye. "What father? I can assure you, this rabbit is in no way related to me," my mother looked horrified and I was very pleased to see that my father's mouth was once again wide open. I didn't give them any time to say anything though as I finally managed to get Nick to stand up and dragged him to the door. I felt a sick sort of pleasure from disowning my father. After the things that he had said about Nick and our relationship it felt good to toss him away like garbage he was. Perhaps it could be seen as a little harsh but considering the things my father had said and the fact that he had kicked Nick and I out of the house, I thought it was only fair.

"Uhhhhhh, Judy," Nick said meekly from behind me so only I could hear as I reached for the door handle.

"What, Nick?" I snapped at him. I didn't mean to sound so angry but I was still riled up from the argument with my father and I really didn't want to talk about it right this second.

Nick seemed to shrink at my voice but he still responded, in an even quieter voice, "We need to grab our bags."

I groaned. This was just my luck. Of course, I had to make a big deal of making an exit only to have to walk back in immediately afterwards. I would have been embarrassed if I weren't so angry but instead I only found it annoying.

I turned and dragged Nick back through the living room. Unfortunately, there was no way to get upstairs other than the stairs in the living room, which meant I was walking right by my parents to get to them. "Bags," I grumbled at them without sparing them a glance.

Together, Nick and I trudged up the stairs. Neither of us said a word as we made our way to the guest rooms to retrieve our stuff. It was probably a good thing I wasn't speaking since my anger might come out when speaking to Nick and the last thing I wanted to be at the moment was angry at him. In the past few minutes, Nick had become the most important thing in my life now that my parents no longer held that spot and if one thing was for certain, I did not want to lose Nick as well.

Nick and I split up and entered our separate rooms. I began haphazardly throwing my possessions, which were distributed unevenly about the room, into my suitcase, not paying any attention to neatness.

Now that I was alone I found myself focusing entirely on the argument I just had with my parents. I just couldn't believe that their reaction had been so strong, although my mother didn't seem to feel as strongly about it as my father did. I knew that my parents had told me that interspecies relationships were wrong when I was younger but I had hoped that their minds had been changed on the matter since that time. I had been a very large advocate of being accepting of everyone and it had at least seemed like I had gotten my parents to believe that in the past year as well. Obviously I was wrong.

I slammed my suitcase lid down and violently zipped it shut. I carried it out of my room and found Nick leaning against the wall, on foot flat against the wall as well. His suitcase lay at his feet. As soon as he saw me, Nick kicked himself off the wall and began talking. "Carrots, I was thinking. The Chief wants us to stay out of Zootopia for a little so things can settle down," I nodded, wondering where he was going with this, "and now we don't have a place to stay. We need to find somewhere to stay until we can go back to Zootopia." He was right. Until it was safe for us back in Zootopia we needed to find a place to stay. I was about to suggest that we find a motel or something when a voice from down the hall grabbed my attention.

"I can help you with that," It was Tris, "Mom just told me what happened. You two can stay with me at my place."

"You don't have to do that Tris," I began, but she cut me off.

"Maybe I don't have to, but I want to. You two shouldn't suffer just because you love each other." I smiled, Tris always did have a good heart.

"What about your husband?" Tris may be fine with having Nick and I stay over but I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable for our sake, especially if we were to be living with them.

"He shouldn't have a problem. You should know that I wouldn't marry a speceist."

Before I could say anything, Nick answered for us, "We would love to stay at your place, Tris. Thank you," he told her.

"Okay, great. We should probably go now before Dad tries to talk to you again."

"Yeah, let's go," I agreed. I found myself wondering what would happen between me and my parents in the future. Would we never make up? Would they finally learn to accept interspecies relationships? What if I never talked to my parents again? I wasn't sure how I would handle being forever removed from my parents. My whole life up until when I left for the police academy and then Zootopia, my world revolved around my family. Although Nick was my family now, perhaps more so than my parents in some ways, I wasn't sure if I could be fine with losing all contact with those who had been my family for all of my life. Such were the thoughts that ran through my head as Nick, Tris, and I walked down the hallway of the old Hopps family home.

* * *

 **Nick POV**

9:47 a.m.

A light, pleasant breeze blew through the exposed fur of my head and limbs, ruffling it slightly. The dirt path I was walking on was well worn with obvious tire tracks from the many trucks farmers no doubt drove on the path with. To the left of the path lay an extremely overgrown forest that no one obviously took care of as it was more vines and large shrubs than actual trees. The right side of the trail opened up to an impressively sized field, one half of which contained newly sprouted carrots while the other half was empty.

Beside me, Judy walked in silence, we hadn't said a word since we left her parents' house. After we left, we had quickly stopped at Tris' house to drop off our stuff before we decided to take a walk through the fields while she set up a guest room for us. I had hoped that the walk would help calm her after the argument she had with her parents but she maintained a troubled look.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a tiny paw that placed itself in mine. I looked down at Judy who was looking at me with tears in her eyes. I abruptly stopped my walking and wrapped my arms around her small frame in a comforting gesture as Judy started sniffing and sobbing. "Hey hey hey. Calm down, it's okay. I got you," I told her, placing a tender kiss upon her brow. I didn't like seeing her like this. While we were friends, seeing Judy upset like this had upset me as well but now, as mates, that connection had only deepened. It was _hurting_ me to watch Judy like this. I couldn't blame Judy though, having her parents act the way they did would be hard on anyone. I wished there was a way fix everything so Judy would be happy again but I couldn't do anything to change a mammal's views or beliefs if they didn't want to change. So instead, I held onto Judy and whispered encouraging words that I could only hope to be true to her until she calmed down.

Once she had calmed down enough to speak, she spoke up. "I can't believe my parents. They didn't listen to a single thing I said," she sniffed, "I thought they loved me."

"Carrots, don't say that. They do love you. No matter what, they're still your parents," I hoped this was true, for Judy's sake. "Besides, your mother seemed to be more open about us. She didn't seem to agree with your dad when he decided to kick us out," I pointed out. I noticed that when Stu was...calling me speceist names, Bonnie had tried to stop him. It seemed to me that she would have been perfectly fine with myself and Judy being in a relationship had Stu not been there but, instead, Stu had shut both her and Judy down.

Judy was silent for a few seconds, besides a stray sniffle, before responding, "You're right. Maybe we do have some hope left after all."

"There's the optimistic bunny I fell in love with love," I said cheerfully, glad that Judy was looking up.

I was leaning in to kiss Judy between the ears when I heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being cocked. "Put yer paws in the air an' step away from the lady," a voice with a country accent sounded from behind me.

I felt my ears fall back flat against my head and my tail tucked itself between my legs. Judy tensed in my arms, her ears sticking up ram rod straight. I didn't want her to be scared but there was nothing I could do with my back turned and a shotgun being pointed at me that wouldn't get both of us killed. So, fearing for the well being of Judy as well as myself, I did as the voice said and raised my paws above me head before slowly sidestepping away from Judy. As I stepped, I slowly turned myself as well until I was facing the mammal speaking. What I saw was literally the epitome of a stereotypical rabbit farmer.

The buck wore a straw hat with two holes in it through which his ears protruded. He had on overalls with a long-sleeve white shirt beneath, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Out of his mouth hung a piece of wheat. The thing that really held my attention however, was the double barrel shotgun pointed straight at me.

The buck kept his shotgun trained on me and slowly walked over to Judy who had also turned around but otherwise remained completely still, fear evident in her face. "Are ya okay? Did that fox do anythin' to ya?" the buck asked Judy with steel in his eyes as he glared hardly at me.

As Judy comprehended what the buck had said, the expression of fear left her face to be replaced by an absolutely livid one. "'That fox didn't do anything to me," she seethed, "but I am _not_ ok."

The buck was obviously confused at Judy's statement, "Whaddya mean by tha'?" he asked, keeping his head facing me.

"Well," Judy said with false sweetness in her voice, "Generally, a mammal wouldn't be ok if someone was pointing a gun at their mate."

The buck lowered his gun an inch and turned his head to look at Judy. "Mate?" he asked incredulously, though his confusion was short lived as he quickly turned back to face me, straightening the gun again. "Ya forced 'er into this, din'cha. Don' worry Missy," he said, talking to Judy again, "I'll protect ya from this Son-of-a-Bitch."

Judy grinned maliciously, "How about instead, you put the gun down and raise your paws above your head."

The buck completely lowered the gun this time and turned to face Judy, "What!?"

Judy, still smiling, reached into her pocket and pulled out her badge, which I didn't even know she was carrying. The buck's eyes widened in fear at the badge before Judy said, "You're under arrest for threatening an officer."

"Yer a police officer?" the buck asked, shocked.

"Officer Hopps, ZPD. You've just threatened my partner, _Officer_ Wilde," Judy continued to smile innocently at the buck who stared back with ever increasing fear. I was just glad Judy was on my side, she could be scary if she wanted to be.

"H-he's an officer too!? He's a-a fox!"

"Very astute observation, Sir" Judy replied and I couldn't help but snicker, "Now, let me ask you again: Please drop the gun and lie facedown on the ground." The buck complied, allowing Judy to pull pawcuffs out of her pocket and cuff him. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you if you wish," Judy droned off the buck's rights.

After Judy was done, she came over to me and wrapped me up in a big hug. "Are you alright?" she asked me.

"I'm fine, thanks to you," I hugged her back, "What about you?" She wasn't physically harmed but I wanted to make sure he was fine mentally, especially after what had just happened with her parents on top of this.

"I'm fine. I can't believe this guy though," she said, nodding at the buck who was still lying on his stomach.

"Yeah," I didn't want her to dwell on the buck though, she needed to be cheered up. "Do you always carry your badge and cuffs in your pocket?"

"Yeah," she said defensively, "I have to be prepared for anything even if I'm off duty."

"You take work way too seriously," I said, chuckling. It was a running joke between Judy and I, she almost always had work on her mind, even when off duty and I would often tease her because of it.

"You know you love it," she teased back.

"Do I know that? Yes. Yes I do," I gave her a quick peck on the lips but was interrupted by a gagging sound.

I pulled out of the hug and looked at the buck. "You two really are mates then?"

"Yes," Judy said, "We are."

"You two make me sick," the buck said disgusted. He spit in the ground next to his face.

"You can be sick all you want in jail," I told him. He wasn't worth getting worked up over. He was already going to jail and nothing I could say would change his mind anyway, he was already too invested in his crooked beliefs.

Judy however, was extremely bothered by the buck, it was painfully obvious. If there was a way to fix everything for her, I would, but things weren't quite so simple. Some people just wouldn't ever accept an interspecies relationship, it was too far ingrained in their heads as wrong and disgusting. If the reactions so far were any indication, the future would be very hard for both Judy and I and I knew that I would have to do my best to protect her and get her through unscathed. I knew it would be difficult but I knew I would do it. Because I loved her.

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) I know that this chapter is a day late but I was just having some trouble while writing so it took me a little longer than normal to finish the chapter. I wish it didn't happen like that but it did and there isn't much I can do about it soooooo, yeah.**

 **On another note, Judy told her parents about her and Nick! And Stu was definitely not happy to learn that his daughter was dating a fox. Please tell me what you guys thought of the argument scene, as I am so eloquently naming it. Could you feel the emotion? If not, write a review or send a PM telling me what I could do better next time. I want to make sure that my writing makes you feel what the characters are going through and I can only do that with the help of your guys' input.**

 **We've still got time left in Bunnyburrow for Nick and Judy before they head off back to Zootopia. I'm thinking at least two chapters although there is a good chance it could go over if I get an idea for a chapter in Bunnyburrow that I decide to write about so I'll see what happens.**

 **Any questions any of you have can be directed to me via a review or a PM, whichever suits you better. If you guys have any criticism or advice on any part of this chapter or just my work as a whole, don't be afraid to tell me. Like I said, I want my writing to be as realistic as possible and I can only do that if you guys point out my mistakes and flaws (of which I am sure there are many) so I can get better. Then I will be able to write better material for you guys to enjoy since, really, this I for you guys, the ones taking the time out of your day to read what I write. Thank you all for the wonderful support so far, I hope I continue to satisfy your WildeHopps cravings.**

 **For now, this is Jay, signing off.**


	10. Chapter 9-Guilt

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act II-The Burrows

Chapter IX-Guilt

 **(Author's Notes) Hello. Yes, this is two days early. The reason for this is that I'm leaving tomorrow for a family reunion over the weekend and won't be able to upload this chapter on Saturday. I didn't even realize I was leaving until yesterday so I had to wrap up this chapter a little early so I could get it out before I leave. It's still a good 4,000+ words though, so hopefully it isn't too devastating. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean."― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

* * *

 **Nick POV**

8:10 p.m. Tuesday

I stared lazily at the vibrant colors of the setting sun on the horizon. Warm oranges, reds, and yellows blended together like a tropical fruit smoothie splashed across the sky. In the center, half of the bright yellow orb that was the sun was still visible above the horizon.

It was truly beautiful, but as I looked down to my side I knew it could never compare to the bunny walking beside me. The colors of the sunset shone in the fur of Judy's face as it swayed in a light breeze. I saw a twinkle in her amethyst eyes as she stared at the sunset in awe and wonderment. Happiness and content seemed to seep from her like juice from an overripe berry. She was like an angel come down to Earth, and she was mine.

Not for the first time, I thought about how lucky I was to have her in my life. She, unlike all the mammals before her, had given me a chance to show her who I truly was, a good mammal. Despite the way she had found me, a criminal, she had believed that I could do better and eventually gave me the means to join the ZPD alongside her. Sure there had been some bumps along the way, but she had stood beside in all the hard times when no one else would. And now, not only had she chosen to believe in me and give me the chance to be a good fox, she had chosen to spend the rest of her life with me and to become my mate. She had chosen to love me and _nothing_ would ever be more important to me than Judy's love.

Judy suddenly diverted her attention to me and noticed my staring. "What's the matter? See something you like?" she asked me playfully.

I smiled at her slyly, "Only the most beautiful bunny in the world," I replied honestly, at least in my opinion.

"My dad was right, you do have a fetish for bunnies," she teased, poking me in the chest.

When Stu had said that back at the house, I had turned it into a joke to relieve some of my stress from the situation...Perhaps it wasn't one of my best ideas but I didn't actually give the idea any thought. Now that Judy said it again though, I found myself wondering. I certainly enjoyed Judy's body, her fluffy little tail, her velvety ears, her adorable nose, and her strong legs, but whether that was because it was Judy or because she was a rabbit I was unsure. None of the other rabbits I had met so far had exactly appealed to me but it's not like every vixen I saw did either.

Without enough evidence to determine a verdict, I shrugged, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What I _do_ know," I wrapped my arms around Judy from behind, "Is that I love you," I kissed her between the ears, "And I will never leave you for another bunny, even if I do have a rabbit fetish. And not just because we're mates either, but because I really, truly do love you." My words were completely honest, corny as they may sound, and I knew that Judy could tell as she reached her hands up over her head to wrap them around my neck, standing on her tippy toes and stopping her walking to do so. She then pulled me down to kiss her, upside down.

At the first the kiss was sweet but the longer it went on the more passionate it became until I found myself pushing my muzzle into Judy's face as hard as I could. I inhaled her scent deeply, reveling in the Judy-ness of it and I felt a flame ignite deep in my chest. As much as I wanted to continue, Judy and I didn't exactly have a good place for such activities and my back, although almost normal, was not completely healed just yet. So I finally broke the kiss, repressing a whine that fought to escape my throat at the loss of contact. Judy also looked slightly disappointed but was able to smile at me as well.

"Come on," I told her, "We should get back to Tris' house, it's getting late and she's probably wondering why we're not back yet." After arresting the shotgun toting buck, we had brought him to the local precinct and had been forced to go through the process of explaining to the officers there that, "Yes, I am a fox," and, "Yes, I am a police officer," and, "Yes, this rabbit did almost shoot me," and, "No, I am not lying because I'm a fox." Then we had been forced to do the paperwork because, "You were the one who arrested 'im."

Once it was all said and done, it had already passed lunchtime so Judy and I had stopped at some restaurant that I swear served nothing but salad and carrots. I didn't have a problem with any of the food but some bugs wouldn't have hurt. Also, the distrusting glares from the other customers as well as the waiters certainly put a damper on the mood. I might have grown a little frustrated were it not for Judy sitting beside me whispering, "Ignore them," over and over again.

After that I needed to cool down a little so Judy and I decided to resume our walk on a different path, this time devoid of a farm and instead surrounded by lovely rolling hills of green dotted by the yellow and white of daisies. Eventually, after seeing the sun starting to dip below the horizon, Judy and I had realized it would be best to head back to Tris'.

Judy and I resumed our walk in silence until we rounded the corner to a small neighbourhood of decently sized houses as far as normal bunny families go. The houses certainly weren't as big as the Hopps' family house but they still looked like they could fit several dozen bunnies all the same.

The house that Tris lived in with her husband was painted the same yellow as the dandelions in the yard. It was a perfect rectangle with the exception of a small greenhouse jutting out on one side. A small porch led up to the door in the center of the front face of the house, hedges on both sides. It was the perfect cookie-cutter house, completely symmetrical and devoid of any imperfections.

"Looks like Tris' husband is home," Judy said beside me.

I looked at the driveway and saw Tris' navy blue truck where it had been when we left but next to it I now also saw a white van which I assumed belonged to Tris husband. According to Tris, he had been working at his gardening store when we had dropped off our stuff so he hadn't actually met us yet, nor did he know that we would be staying at their house. If he was here now, it was likely that Tris had told him by now but his reaction to the news was still unknown to me and I felt slightly uncomfortable thinking that a repeat of today's earlier events with Judy's parents was possible. Tris had assured us that he would be fine with it though, and I sincerely hoped she was right, both for the sake of Judy's emotions and the fact that we didn't really have another place to stay at.

We made our way up the driveway to the front door. "Are we supposed to knock?" I asked Judy.

She shrugged and bit her lower lip in thought, "I don't know, maybe. We are going to be living here but it might be best to be polite."

I nodded and knocked on the door. "You bite your lip when you're thinking," I informed her as we waited for the door to open.

"I do?" she asked, slightly flustered. Her ears drooped just a tiny bit out of embarrassment.

"Yes. I think it's cute," I admitted. It was definitely, undeniably cute as was much of what Judy did—yet another one of the things I liked so much about her.

She humphed and looked like she was about to say something when the door opened to reveal Tris standing there in a kitchen apron. "Hey, guys. You know you don't need to knock since you're going to be living here. Actually, I'll you guys the spare key in case Cal or I aren't home." I assumed that Cal was the name of her husband.

"Speaking of Cal," Judy spoke, "We saw his van in the driveway. Where is he?" she asked, standing on her tippy toes to look past Tris.

"He's in the kitchen," she said, leaving the entrance to allow room to get in, "Come in, dinner's ready." She walked down the small entrance hall and through a door on the far end which led to the kitchen from what I saw on my short first visit.

Judy and I followed after into the large kitchen which seemed to be necessary in rabbits' homes to cook for their generally large families. The counters formed an "L" in the corner immediately to left upon entering the room. An island was placed in the center of the kitchen with several stools around it. The room continued on beyond the island to a very large dining room table.

Sitting in one of the stools at the island was a rabbit buck wearing a red and black plaid shirt and jeans. His fur coat was completely gray and his appearance would have seemed completely average were it not for his shockingly electric blue eyes.

When we walked in, the buck stood up, a warm smile breaking his face. He approached us, paw extended to Judy, "You must be Judy, Tris has told me a lot about you. My name is Cal, if Tris hasn't told you already. It's nice to finally get to meet you," he said in a light, warm voice as he shook Judy's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Judy returned.

He then turned to me, "And you must be Nick," he shook my hand as well.

So far, I detected no sort of resentment or fear from Cal which was a good sign so I decided to let myself open a bit, "I believe that's my name, yes," I said with a grin.

Cal laughed shortly but became serious quickly, "Look, Tris told me everything and I want you to know, I'm perfectly fine with it. I'm sorry about what you two have had to go through for being mates." I could tell he was being sincere both form his voice and the sadness in his eyes and it made me feel at least a little better that there was someone else who didn't care.

"You don't need to be sorry, it's not your fault," Judy told Cal.

"Doesn't mean it doesn't still suck," Cal said, "No one should have to go through what you two have already because you love someone."

"Thank you," I said. As much as it felt good to listen to someone fight on our side for once, I didn't really want to talk about any of the things that happened to Judy and I at the time. Plus, I realized how hungry I was now that I was in the kitchen with the smell of food attacking my sensitive nose so I added, "You said dinner was ready?"

"Yes," Tris said. She had been standing near a pot during the introductions but now picked it up and carried it past the island and her husband to the dining room table that could probably fit upwards of 50 bunnies at a time. Four bowls were already placed at the table so that two would sit next to each other across from the other two.

Judy and I took a seat next to each other on one side of the table while Tris and Cal sat across from us. The already strong smell of food became suddenly overwhelming when Tris lifted the lid to the pot. My mouth started salivating at the delightful scent and my tail wagged happily behind me. Obviously Tris didn't notice because she said, "I'm not sure how much you like vegetables, Nick, but I also put some beetles in the oven for you. They should be done any second now."

I smiled a little. It seemed that nearly every bunny had it in their heads that foxes didn't eat vegetables. "Well it smells delicious. Foxes are omnivores and I like vegetables too. Except brussel sprouts, I hate brussel sprouts."

"Oh, that's good," Tris said and ladled some sort of soup within the pot into each of the four bowls.

Unable to ignore my stomach for a second longer, I took several large spoonfuls of the soup. I involuntarily let out a small whine of pleasure which prompted the three rabbits at the table to burst out in laughter. "That good, huh?" Judy asked through her laughter.

I simply nodded, too busy shoveling more soup into my mouth. We ate in silence for a little before a ding from the kitchen signaled that something had finished cooking. "That must be the beetles," she said as she stood up. She went into the kitchen and took the beetles out of the oven, returning with them and placing them next to the large pot of soup.

"Thank you, Tris," I said, grabbing a few beetles and putting them on my plate.

Judy grabbed a few as well and began munching on one, prompting Tris and Cal, neither of whom have seen Judy eat a beetle yet, to stare at her, similar to the events of yesterday's lunch with Judy's parents. This time Judy seemed prepared however as she said, "Yes, I'm eating a beetle and I think you should actually try them as well, they're really good."

Tris seemed to not have heard anything Judy said. "You're eating _beetles_?" she asked incredulously. "I'm sorry, but they look so disgusting. How did you even manage to work up the courage to put that in your mouth?" She gagged slightly but managed to hold herself together.

"Well, Mr. Slick, here," Judy nudged me with her elbow, "tricked me into it." She was feigning annoyance but I could easily see her barely concealed smirk.

"This sounds like something I want to hear," Cal spoke up, "How did he manage to get you to do that?"

"Well, we were having breakfast and Nick told me to try one. I didn't want to back down but I figured that I wanted something out of Nick in return so I told him I would do it if he tried a carrot. He agreed so I tried the beetle, obviously I liked it."

I decided to take over the story at this point, "What Carrots didn't know was that I already liked carrots so I had no problem eating one after that."

Cal just looked confused, "Why would carrots know that you liked carrots? What?"

I looked back at Cal with an equally confused expression before I realized what he meant. "Oh no, Carrots is one of my nicknames for Judy. When we first met I...wasn't exactly the nicest guy, potentially borderline speceist. The name kind of stuck though, now it's more of a symbol of how comfortable we are with each other," I looked at Judy lovingly and she returned the expression, having never heard me say that before.

"You two are so cute," Cal interrupted our moment, "I think I will try one of these, if Judy likes them so much," Cal said, picking up one of the beetles. He stared at it for a solid couple of seconds before tossing the whole thing in his mouth and bringing his teeth down on it in a large, _Crunch_. His expression remained motionless for a second while he chewed before he moaned. "What have I been doing with my life," he lamented, "These things are amazing." Cal grabbed several more beetles and began shoving those in his mouth now as well.

Judy laughed a little, "Told you."

The rest of the meal was spent in silence as we all hungrily gobbled down the food. Once we were done, we all helped to bring the bowls, pots, and tray to the kitchen and then into a dishwasher. After, we all found ourselves sitting down in the living room which was connected to the dining room/kitchen.

Unlike the Hopps' living room, there was only one small couch and two well-worn armchairs as far as seating. An oak coffee table sat in front of the couch on on the wall facing the couch there was a much smaller flat screen than the one at the Hopps'.

Tris and Cal each sat at one of the arm chairs leaving Judy and I sitting side by side on the couch. Judy had her head rested on my shoulder, her eyes closed and her ears drooping as she let out a hum of contentment. I saw Cal staring at us for a few seconds before he spoke up, "So how did the two of you meet?"

Judy opened her eyes and her ears stood up straight, smacking me in the face. "Oh, sorry, Nick," she apologized before turning her attention to Cal, "It's sort of a long story," she explained, "But the short version is, he used to be a con artist and he hustled me into buying him a jumbo pop for one of his cons. Then he turned out to be an important suspect in a case I was working on so I hustled him into helping me solve the case, which we did. Afterwards, I convinced him to become a police officer and, a year later, here we are," she finished. I nodded my agreement to her story.

Cal just laughed after hearing the story. "Hold on, so he hustled you? Then you hustled him?" Judy and I both nodded, "How did you two get along with a start like that?"

I answered for us, "We didn't really, not at first. Like I said earlier, I was sort of a big jerk until she saved my life," I admitted with an air of melancholy.

"I wasn't exactly much better, you know," Judy said reassuringly, giving my paw a squeeze. I hadn't even noticed that she had grabbed it. "All I did was judge you because you were a fox."

I gave her paw a squeeze back and looked up to see our hosts were staring at us uncomfortably, the mood having changed dramatically. I didn't really want to stay in this atmosphere any longer than necessary so I said, "I think we're probably going to head to bed now."

"Oh, okay," Tris said, cheerful once more, "I set everything up for you. Do you remember where the room is?"

"Yes. Thank you again for letting us stay here, we're very grateful," I said as Judy and I stood up. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Tris and Cal said in unison. With that, Judy and I walked up the staircase against the wall of the room and to the guest room we had put our stuff in earlier. It hadn't escaped me that Judy had been quiet since talking about her mistake when first meeting me, however, I opted to wait until after we were completely ready to bring it up.

Eventually, I was lying in bed, completely naked, alongside an equally naked bunny. I was laying on my back and Judy was snuggling into my side. I had my arm draped around her, paw playing with the fur on the side of her face. Judy still hadn't said a word since we got upstairs so I finally decided to breach the silence, "Judy, you know I've forgiven you for your prejudices when we first met, right?"

"Mhm," was the only answer from Judy, who absentmindedly began to run her paw through the creamy fur of my chest.

"Well then what's got you so down?" I didn't want to call Judy a liar but something was definitely up and I couldn't think of anything else that could be causing her to be this upset.

Judy let out a long, drawn out sigh before answering quietly, "I'm just thinking about all the other mamals who are still thinking like I used to. You know, in the article about us they said that you probably forced me into the relationship because you're a predator and I'm a prey. I just...I wish that mammals could get past their prejudices and see others for who they truly are, not just their species," I thought Judy was done but then she continued, "And I can't help but feel that that's partly my fault because of the press conference. I gave prey an excuse to fear predators," Judy's small frame was racked by a sob and her breathing grew shallower and I immediately rolled onto my side and wrapped her in a hug tightly against my chest.

"Judy," I began talking in a soothing voice and her breathing evened out a little, "No matter what you say, prey have always been afraid of predators. It's a sad fact but it's a fact all the same. It's not your fault. _You_ are doing the opposite of making it worse, every chance you get you show the world that there's nothing to fear from predators," I chuckled softly, "You're kind of a hero. My hero anyways." Judy's breathing had returned to normal and she wasn't sobbing so I took that as a sign that she had calmed down.

I pulled out of the hug a little so I could look at Judy's face and saw two trails of tears running down her cheeks. Now, though, she was smiling and I gave her nose a quick peck causing it to twitch uncontrollably in the most adorable way ever. "Awwww," I couldn't help but let out, "Your nose is so cute."

Judy scowled at me, "Nick, I've told you not to call a bunny cute before. You did it at the front door earlier too, you have to stop," she pouted.

I was not one to give up something like this so easily, however, so I said, "Judy, listen. I know it's not polite to call a bunny cute because it's stereotyping but this is different than if I were to call any other bunny cute. I say you're cute because you're my mate and I find you attractive and I love you. I'm not saying that you're cute for any reason other than that I think it's the truth and it just isn't fair if I'm not allowed to call you cute, because you are," I had wanted to say something like this to Judy for a very long time because, admittedly, I had thought she was cute even when we were just partners. Now that we were mates though, I was able to really drive home the argument where before it would have just been me saying, 'I want to call you cute because you are cute' and that might have sounded kind of weird.

Judy continued to scowl at me for a few seconds before it faded away to be replaced by a resigned look, "Fine, I'll give you this but you better not abuse it or I'll revoke this privilege," she said, sounding like a mother who had finally relented to her child's begging to go to the movies, "Thanks for the talk, too," she added, voice softening.

"You're welcome. Besides, like I told your siblings, I hate seeing sad bunnies. It makes me sad and then where would we be? I think we should probably go to sleep now, I have a feeling tomorrow's not going to be easy and we need our energy." Judy just hummed her consent and I snuggled closer to her once more, my muzzle occupying the space just above her head, between her ears. I tightened my arms' hold on her and wrapped my tail around her as well in what was quickly becoming our favorite sleeping position. I heard Judy purr softly at the embrace and I contentedly let out a sigh, knowing that Judy lay at my side.

Sadly, I did have a bad feeling about tomorrow, so for now, I enjoyed the comfort of sleeping next to Judy as best as I could in preparation for the next day.

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 **(Author's Notes) A few announcements: the next chapter should come out on time, seeing as I'll have the same amount of time I normally do, so no worries there. For the week after that, however, I'm going to summer camp with my boy scout troop. I'll be pretty busy while away and I'll only be able to write with paper and pencil *shivers* so I don't think I'll be able to write the full chapter while I'm at camp. I will have a chapter out the Saturday after though. I could possibly do another short chapter like chapter 7 while I'm at camp, seeing as it wouldn't be very long, and post that once I get back. Tell me in a review or a PM whether you would like to see that or if you would prefer I hold off for a longer chapter the week after I get back.**

 **Now that that's over, what did you guys think of Cal? I've introduced a few OCs already but each time I can never be sure if I did a good job with them. If his description was lacking, please tell me. I've said this multiple times already so you guys know by now that I want to hear your criticism. Any comments or literally anything you guys have to say about Cal or any other part of the story, please share with me.**

 **I believe that's it for now, so au revoir et bonne journée, all you lovely people. (Yes, I'm taking French). This is Jay, signing off.**


	11. Chapter 10-Everyone's A Judge

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act II-The Burrows

Chapter X-Everyone's A Judge

 **(Author's Notes) I don't have anything to say before you read the chapter this time other than this: Enjoy!**

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"How would your life be different if…You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day…You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey."

-Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

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 ****

 ** **Judy POV****

10:24 a.m. Wednesday

The stares were back.

I found myself thinking back to what happened last Sunday. It felt like ages ago that Nick and I had been walking to the Mammalia Central Mall, even though it was really only three days. The difference now, though, was that I knew exactly what the stares were for and that just made it all ten times worse.

Yesterday, when Nick and I were briefly in town, no one had spared us a second glance. But now, every mammal, every single one, glared at us maliciously. Of course that had been the expected reaction once the paper revealing our relationship was distributed in the Burrows, but that didn't make it any easier to handle.

I was extremely bothered that these mammals, along with the ones back in Zootopia, could be so close-minded. Thankfully there were at least some forward thinking mammals, as evidenced by the legalization of interspecies marriages, but they seemed to be few and far between. Didn't these mammals understand that they could be so much happier if they simply learned to accept positive change? No one was being hurt by interspecies relationships so why spend the time to make others' lives miserable when they could be doing something positive? It made no sense to me and just thinking about it made me want to start ripping my fur out.

Resisting the urge, I tried to let the stares bounce off of me like Nick was able to do. If ever his motto 'never let them see they get to you' was applicable, it was now. It was hard though. While Nick had spent almost his whole life embodying that idea, I had done quite the opposite. I was always the one to wear my heart on my sleeve, to let my emotions run free. One time in Biology class in 9th grade we were supposed to raise frogs to eventually be used for dissection. When the time had come for the frogs to be killed, I had outright refused and worked the other kits in my class up into staging a small revolt against killing the frogs. This had earned me a detention for disrupting the class as well as a call to my parents from the principal. The frogs were eventually killed in the end anyways, But I couldn't just let something I thought wrong, the killing of animals, go by unchallenged and this situation was no different.

Nick must have noticed my internal struggle as I heard him whisper, "Judy," the sound of my name instead of one of Nick's normal nicknames for me seemed to wash out everything else so that I was only listening to what Nick had to say, "Just ignore them. Nothing you do will change their minds and it won't do anything to make you feel better. There's no reason to be unhappy because of them. The best thing you can do is to just be happy and let them drown in their own bitterness."

I thought about Nick's words, staring at the dirt road as we walked further down the street. The concept of Nick's motto, which I hadn't been able to comprehend just moments ago, made a lot more sense now. Just like the other mammals made themselves unhappy by throwing out their negativity, I was making myself unhappy by pushing back. It was a cycle. A cycle that I could break if I just ignored the other mammals. Even knowing this though, I ran into the same problem. "I can't just do nothing. It's not right, what they're thinking."

"And they think that what we're thinking is wrong. Not everyone will agree on one thing all the time and you can try to change their minds but you have to be careful how you do so. You can't take on everyone all at once or else you'll be overwhelmed. You have to pick your fights so that you win and yelling at a bunch of mammals in the middle of the street is not the right fight."

I knew Nick was right. Maybe I didn't like it, but I still found myself smiling in spite of myself; I felt better. "You would make a good therapist," I told him playfully, my mood having lightened now.

"Maybe, but then I wouldn't get to work next to the cutest mammal in Zootopia," I felt him smooch the top of my head and a warmth spread through me. I was glad that Nick had convinced me to let him call me cute, not that I would ever tell him that. It wasn't just because I liked him complimenting me, although that didn't hurt, it was because it was now something unique to Nick. He was now the only non-rabbit who could call me cute and it reinforced our bond very substantially for something so seemingly minor. I smiled, the other mammals around us seeming to fade out of my view. At least for the moment, here with Nick, I could ignore everyone else's judgement.

We walked in silence for another minute or so before Nick asked, "So, what else can you tell me about this Gideon Grey?"

I was reminded of the reason Nick and I were walking through town in the first place. I had mentioned Gideon's amazing pastries to Nick that morning and he had immediately jumped at the chance to have blueberry pie, especially after I told him that Gideon was also a fox. I assumed Nick wanted to see a mammal that wasn't a rabbit after being surrounded by us for so long. Besides that though, I hadn't really said much about Gideon and Nick had no idea of the past I had with him. Not wanting to paint Gideon in a negative light before Nick got to know him, I said, "He has a partnership with my parents. They give him some of their produce to use in his baked goods and he gives them some of his pastries and pies in return."

"Guess that explains how your parents got over their fear of foxes," Nick said nonchalantly, "I was wondering how they went from sending you to Zootopia with fox repellent to being okay with us being partners...at least until they learned that we're mates," he added bitterly before continuing as if he hadn't said anything strange, "So I assume that you two were good friends, then?"

I hesitated in my answer, unsure of how Nick might react to learning of Gideon's past but decided to just get it out now. There was no point in keeping this from Nick and I really didn't want to start lying to him, "Not exactly...He was sort of the town bully when we were younger...He's nice now, though, he feels pretty bad about how he used to be."

"Was he the one that gave you those scars on your cheek?" he asked abruptly and emotionlessly.

I didn't say anything at first. I had never told Nick about the scars on my cheek and I thought they were more or less unnoticeable by now. The fur of my cheek almost entirely covered it and I could only ever see them upon close inspection. I guess that spending almost every day together for a year gave Nick plenty opportunities to see it, though. I hadn't planned on telling Nick that Gideon had clawed me but now it didn't seem like I had much of a choice. "Yes. How did you—"

"I saw them once while we were on patrol. I assumed you got them from an accident in the academy or something but this makes more sense. It explains why your family felt the way the did about foxes and some of your reactions when we first met," he informed me. "Don't get started about that again, I've forgiven you for everything you did back then," he added, seeing that I was opening my mouth.

"That's not what I was going to say," I protested, "I was going to say you're completely right about that. He's good now, though, he's completely changed. After you, he's probably the nicest fox I know."

"Do you even know any other foxes?" he asked teasingly.

"Finnick," I replied simply. I didn't exactly know Finnick that well although I had seen him a few times since we first met when he was hanging out with Nick. Apparently he had found a job as a delivery man or something since Nick convinced him to go straight after joining the force.

Nick laughed, "It's not very hard to be nicer than Finnick, but I know what you're getting at. If you say that Gideon's changed, I believe you. Honestly, I have no place to condemn someone for things they've done in their past after how much I've changed."

I was happy to hear that Nick was being so open-minded. He truly had come far from when I had met him a year ago. I nuzzled his chest affectionately and I felt his arm wrap around me. "I love how much you've changed since we met."

"What don't you love about me?" Nick asked playfully.

"What about your insufferable sarcasm and snark?" I shot back.

A dramatic gasp from Nick caused me to look at him in time to see the back of paw against his brow and a pained expression on his face, "You wound me, Carrots. How could you do this to your mate? I thought you loved me."

I struggled to keep my face emotionless but in the end I couldn't help but burst out in laughter. It was rather loud from trying to hold it in and a few mammals completely stopped what they were doing to watch me. By this point though, I could care less. I simply continued my laughter as Nick and I walked.

When I had finally calmed down I noticed that we were almost at the bakery. "The bakery's right here," I told Nick, pointing to a quaint, two-story bakery. It was painted a warm, sunset orange color and above the door was a sign that read "Gideon Grey's Real Good Baked Stuff". The second floor appeared to be purely residential with the bottom reserved for the actual bakery. It was a very inviting looking building, normally drawing the attention of many mammals, but it was currently empty. The morning rush for pastries was past and the store probably wouldn't be very busy again until late into the afternoon. I had made the mistake of coming around dinner the last time I visited Bunnyburrow and it had taken me close to an hour of waiting in line to get a slice of pie and meanwhile I was jostled around by the many other rabbits in the bakery also getting their own pies and pastries. I did not ever want to have to repeat that experience.

When we reached the front of the shop, Nick hurried ahead to open the door for me, resulting in the tinkling of a bell when it opened. "After you, m'lady," Nick gestured for me to enter with his hand.

"Why thank you, Sir," I curtsied slightly, playing along with his act. We both devolved into giggles as we walked into the shop. The inside of the shop was cozy but not too small. Four tables were placed around the shop, covered in red and white checkered table cloths, surrounded by rabbit-sized chairs. Opposite of the front door was the counter, a glass display case showing off many of the various pies and other baked goods for sale.

Appearing from a back room, presumably summoned by the bell on the door, came my past-bully-turned-friend. "Good morning. What can Ah do for—Judy!" The pudgy baker's face lit up in surprise and happiness as he saw me. "Judy, it's good t' see ya again." He came around the counter and gave me a hug. I turned my head in the hug to look at Nick but thankfully he was just standing there smiling, looking slightly amused by the baker.

"It's good to see you too, Gideon," I said, hugging Gideon back.

Gideon ended the hug and took a step back, turning his attention to Nick. "Who's this?"

Nick extended a paw to Gideon, still smiling amicably, "I'm Nick Wilde, Judy's partner at the ZPD and mate," he said cheerily. _I guess Nick doesn't feel like beating around the bush at all,_ I thought.

Gideon dazedly shook Nick's paw, looking lost, "G-Gideon Grey," he turned to look at me, "D-did he say mate?" Gideon looked shocked at this new development and I could only hope that this didn't end up similar to what happened with my parents. Honestly, I was kind of surprised Gideon hadn't already gotten the news from the paper like everyone else, but now was not the time to worry about whether or not Gideon read the newspaper.

"Yup," I said cheerfully, trying to pretend as if nothing was strange or different at all, "Nick and I are mates." Nick put his arm around me, pulling me close to his side and I felt a chaste kiss on top of my head.

"Well, golly, wasn't expectin' tha'," Gideon admitted, "T' be honest, Ah never thought you would find a mate, Judy, let alone a fox," I couldn't help but frown, not liking where this was going, but before I could say anything Gideon quickly said, "Oh no, Ahm not sayin' it's bad or nothin'. Ahm happy for ya, Judy. It's good tha' yer not lettin' anyone get in the way of yer heart."

I turned my frown into a smile, "Thanks, Gideon. I needed to hear that."

"Whaddya mean by tha'?" Gideon asked curiously. He had sat down in one of the small chairs at one of the tables, looking comically large sitting in the chair meant for someone half his size. I sat down in one of the chairs as well, Nick doing likewise.

I let out a long breath of air before telling Gideon what had happened at my parents' yesterday. At the end Gideon seemed to be at a loss for words, "Tha's...Tha's…"

"Yeah," I said quietly, ending his awkward suffering. Reliving the argument with my father had brought back the sadness I felt yesterday, replacing the happiness I had not moments before.

I suddenly felt two large, furry arms wrap around me and I was dragged out of my seat and into the lap of a large mass of red fur. Nick placed his muzzle on my shoulder and nuzzled me softly. "Don't worry about that now, Judy, I'm here." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the feel of Nick's fur and the gentle beating of his heart against me. It all screamed "Nick" and that was exactly what I needed to cheer me up. His presence made me happy, just like my mother's heartbeat did when I was a little kit.

Sitting there, listening to Nick's heartbeat, the bad memories of yesterday seemed to fade away. Soon, the sadness was gone again and I opened my eyes, "Thanks, Nick."

"Don't mention it."

"Golly," I realized that Gideon had been sitting there the whole time Nick was comforting me, "Mr. Wilde, Ah don' know much about ya but you certainly seem t' care fer Judy. Ahm happy you two foun' each other."

I couldn't help but smile again, "I'm happy too," I said, staring dreamily into Nick's emerald eyes. They looked back at me and I could see our love in their depths.

"Don't get all sappy on me now, Carrots, I'm not sure that I could handle all the cuteness," Nick's grin slid onto his face as his eyes turned playful as well, although the love was still there, and I felt a growing urge to wipe the smirk off his face for ruining the moment.

Before I did anything though, Gideon asked, somewhat incredulously, "Did he jus' call you 'Carrots'? And 'cute'?" I hadn't thought much about it, but I now realized how strange Nick's nicknames must seem to people who didn't know much about us. Our friends at the precinct had very quickly accepted that Nick was allowed to call me 'Carrots' or 'Fluff' so by now it seemed completely normal. But what was normal for us probably sounded pretty speceist to those who didn't know about our past. Cal seemed to be fine with it when we told him yesterday but I couldn't expect everyone, especially if they were a rabbit, to feel the same about the nickname.

"Yeah. 'Carrots' is one of his nicknames for me," I shrugged, "I don't have a problem with it, it's kind of cute. Speaking of which—I gave him permission to call me cute."

Gideon said nothing and nodded for a few seconds before saying, "Ya sure are open-minded, Judy. Ahm not sure if any other rabbits would let tha' slide by."

"Yup. That's my Carrots, always first to do something. That's part of the reason I love her so much, she doesn't let others decide her fate for her." I felt myself blushing a little at Nick's new sentiment. Call it vain, but it was nice to hear one of the things Nick loves about me and I couldn't help the stupid grin that my face adopted.

"So, what'd you two come here for, anyways?" Gideon asked suddenly, snapping me out of my embarrassment.

"Well, to see you again and introduce you to Nick. Also, Nick wanted to try some of your blueberry pie; he really like blueberries." I felt Nick nodding his head in agreement behind me.

"Oh, Ah'll go get a pie real quick. You two wait here," Gideon immediately stood up and was bustling back through the door he entered in before Nick or I could say anything.

Now that Gideon was gone, I felt it was safe to ask Nick a question I was almost scared to have answered, "So Nick, what do you think of Gideon so far?" It appeared that Nick liked Gideon but Nick was more than capable of keeping up a façade to hide his emotions. I hoped he liked Gideon, he really was a much better mammal now and he deserved to be known as such.

Nick looked past my head thoughtfully while answering, "He seems nice. He doesn't have a problem with our relationship, which is definitely a good sign, and I haven't seen any reason to dislike him, so I'd say I like him," he finished, finally looking at me. "You were right, he's certainly not the bully you say he used to be."

"He isn't," I agreed, "I'm glad you like him."

At that moment, Gideon reentered the room, carrying a slightly steaming pie in a pie tray and two forks. "Here it is. Ah had this pie in the oven 'fore you two came and Ah decided Ah'd give it 'nother minute to finish ta give ta you two."

I smiled at him, "Thanks, Gideon."

Gideon set the pie and forks down on the table in front of Nick and I before excusing himself, "Ah have to git th' other pies out of the oven and such. Ah'll be back out when Ah'm done. Hope ya like it." He then went back into the back room, leaving Nick and I alone with the pie.

We each grabbed a fork and Nick reached in to grab a bite, saying, "This better be as good as you said it is, Fluff."

"Or what?"

Nick paused with a piece of pie just outside his mouth and grinned wickedly. He stared right into my eyes, "Or you have to give me a blowjob."

I could feel my ears droop in shock and it took me a few seconds to form a thought. _Oh, you want to go there. I know how to play, too, Nick,_ I thought. "Is your back better yet?" I asked innocently.

"The cut was gone when I checked this morning and I don't feel any pain anymore," Nick said, confused by the sudden change in conversation.

"Well then," I flashed Nick a coquettish grin and half lid my eyes, "I _really_ hope you don't like the pie."

Nick's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. I had sort of shocked myself with my words but the reaction from Nick made me happy I had said that. Eventually his face morphed into a very cocky smirk, "Gee, Carrots, I didn't realize how much not having sex with me affected you. Am I really that good?" I punched him as hard as I could in the arm but Nick just laughed as he held his arm, unable to control himself. I glared at him until he calmed down and said, "I'm just kidding, Carrots. Although I won't stop you if you want to later."

And with that Nick finally took a bite of the pie and immediately his eyes popped wide open. "Dish ish amashing!" Nick exclaimed around a mouthful of pie.

"Nick!" I scolded, "Don't speak with your mouth full." I cringed slightly at the view I got of the pie filling Nick's mouth but he paid me and my words no attention and began shoveling more pie into his mouth before he even swallowed what he already had. "Hey! Save some for me!" I whined indignantly, although I couldn't help but laugh at the same time.

Somehow Nick managed to swallow the ludicrous amount of pie he had somehow fit into his pie hole **(pun intended)** and said, "If you want some, get some, because I'm not going to wait for you. This pie is way too good." I just shook my head and joined Nick in finishing off the pie. It wasn't the first of Gideon's pies I'd had but I still couldn't deny how good it was; Gideon was a very good baker.

It wasn't long before the entire pie had disappeared into either Nick's or my stomach and I let out a contented sigh, collapsing fully into my chair. My bloated stomach felt as though it might burst at the slightest disturbance and all I wanted to do was sit there and rest. Suddenly Nick groaned, "Officially, Gideon is a good person. Anyone who can make pie that good has to be a saint." I chuckled weakly, unable to muster the energy to do any more.

We were silent for a while as we sat there digesting the excessive amounts of pie we ate. Eventually, Gideon returned, covered in flour, and sat back down at the table. "Ya like it?" He asked rhetorically, seeing the state of Nick and I as well as the licked-clean pie tray.

I couldn't find the force of will to say anything but Nick obliged, "Gideon, buddy, you're a pie wizard."

Gideon smiled bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck. "Tha's mighty nice of ya, but Ah'm not tha' good a baker."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit," Nick told him, "This is the best pie I've ever had."

"Well, thank ye, Mr. Wilde. Yer very kind. Ah've got a lot of work t' do but you two can stay as long as ya like. Ah hope t' see ya again soon." And with that, Gideon stood up and gave Nick and I a friendly handshake and a wave before returning to the back room with the pie tray and forks.

"Humble too," Nick mused, "I'm starting to like Gideon more and more," Nick declared before lapsing into a food induced stupor where I soon followed.

* * *

 **Nick POV**

6:58 p.m.

"Those vegan burgers were great, Tris."

"Thank you, Nick. You can put your plate in the dishwasher." I did as I was told before making my way to the living room where I found Judy, alone, sitting on the couch.

After eating all the pie I had that morning, I had honestly never expected to eat, or do anything active, again—I was just so full. But somehow, Judy and I had gotten up after a good half hour or so of just sitting in the bakery and Judy had shown me around to some other notable places in Bunnyburrow. The whole time mammals continued to stare at us and, although normally I wouldn't have cared (I got a lot of stares for being a fox anyway), I didn't want Judy to get worked up again. And so, while Judy was busy pointing out her favorite childhood bookstore, I was glaring at a fluffle of rabbits who were looking at Judy and I with disapproval evident in their faces. Judy never showed the same frustration she had before though so I hoped she had taken my advice to heart. Eventually Judy and I had returned to Tris' house again and done nothing more than lounge around until dinner.

I sat down next to Judy and she wasted no time leaning onto my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her, stroking her ear lovingly. Judy purred at my touch before a shudder went through her body. "Nick," she whispered.

"Yeah?" I whispered back.

"You remember how sensitive my ears are?"

I suddenly remembered the first time Judy and I had sex. It was only last Friday, even though it felt like ages ago, and I recalled how she had reacted when I stroked her ears. I pulled my paw away from her ear like I had been shocked, "Sorry, Carrots. I forgot."

Judy grabbed my paw and I finally noticed the smoldering gaze she was giving me, "No, it's okay, we should take it to the room first, though. I'm not sure how our hosts would react to us making love on their couch." Judy giggled as she began to stroke my tail, causing me to shudder as well.

I dropped my voice several steps lower than normal when I responded, "What's the matter, Carrots, not into a little risqué PDA? I guess we'll head upstairs then." I picked up Judy in my arms, supporting her by placing one paw beneath her rump and the other against the back of her head. I pecked her on the lips as a small sample of what was to come before carrying her up the stairs to the guest room. I had wanted to do this ever since I got injured but now was the first time I was able to and I was going to make up for every second I had lost while my back healed.

At the top of the stairs, I smashed my lips into Judy's, locking her into a passionate kiss. I opened my mouth, my tongue slipping out to ask for entrance to Judy's. As soon as I felt her lips part I pushed onwards, tasting every part of her mouth like it was the only thing I knew how to do. I traced her large teeth once with my tongue before wrestling her smaller tongue with my larger one. The sweet taste of her mouth was as addicting as any drug and I was hooked ever since the first time I had it.

I took a deep breath through my nose and my senses were flooded by the overwhelming smell of pure Judy. The heady scent was pure heaven and it made me feel both safe and extremely aroused at the same time. I let out a whine through the kiss and Judy broke the kiss momentarily, staring at me while biting her lip. "Someone's impatient, aren't they?" she finally said.

I ran the paw on the back of her head through her fur, occasionally giving first one ear, then the other, a long stroke. "You smell so good. I can't help it," I breathed out, my breath washing across her face causing her facial fur to blow in the breeze.

Judy kissed me again as I stumbled to the guest room door and fumbled with the door knob before finally opening it. I hurried in, face still glued to Judy's by our mouths, and closed the door behind me with my hind paw. I collapsed forwards onto the bed on top of Judy and I would have crushed her if I hadn't stopped myself with my paws just before my full weight landed on her. With our chests pressed together, I could feel her heart pumping at a breakneck pace, matching my own rapidly racing heart. Obviously she was just as excited as I was and, knowing this, I began kissing Judy with even greater fervor, as if I were trying to devour her mouth.

Judy moaned into the kiss and I felt her tiny paws begin working on the buttons of my shirt. I broke the kiss to help her and my shirt was soon off my body, thrown off to some corner of the room. I grabbed the hem of Judy's shirt and practically threw it over her head. This time Judy was wearing a bra so I quickly reached behind her back and undid its clasp, tossing the in-the-way garment somewhere over my head. I took just a second to admire Judy's petite breasts before burying my muzzle in her chest, inhaling her scent and feeling her soft fur. I could feel Judy running her one paw through my chest fur and the other through my tail. I couldn't contain another shudder, the feeling of our fur meshing together providing even greater stimulation to my erogenous zones.

My pants suddenly felt too tight as my stiffening member pressed against their front. I moved my muzzle over to Judy's left breast and gave it a few sniffs and licks while hurrying to unbutton and pull off my pants. Judy moaned as I took her nipple into my mouth and began sucking on it earnestly, giving her the pleasure she had no doubt been missing just as much as I had.

I finally managed to undo the button and zipper on my pants and wasted no time in pulling them off with my boxers, releasing my now fully erect member. With my bothersome clothes finally off, I returned my full attention to Judy's pleasure. I moved my muzzle to Judy's other breast now, licking and sucking on her formerly neglected nipple. At the same time, I used one of my newly unoccupied paws to stimulate Judy's other nipple.

"N-Nick," Judy gasped, "G...go lower." I obliged, pulling my muzzle off of her nipple with a squelching noise as the suction was released. I continued to tease her one nipple with my paw while I used the other to undo the button on Judy's pants. At the same time, I kissed and licked Judy's stomach. "H-hurry up," Judy begged, prompting me to redouble my efforts to take off her pants.

Once her button was undone, I quickly slid off her pants and panties in one fluid motion. Lowering my muzzle, I gave her thighs a lick on either side of her opening before centering myself and giving her folds a long, deep lick. Judy's breath caught and she was silent until I ran a finger from my free paw over her clit. "Ohhhhhhhhhh, yes, Nick. P-please don't s-stop," she whimpered.

Stopping wasn't even on my mind and I continued to lick and suck at her insides while playing with her clit with my one paw and her nipple with the other. The scents I was getting with my nose buried in her sex were intoxicating and I thought I could feel my foxhood stiffen even more, if that was even possible. Regardless, I could feel it twitching spasmodically at the smell of Judy's arousal and her continuous moans and pleasure noises.

It wasn't long before Judy's thighs clenched tighter around my head and her moans picked up a little. I was actually a little worried that Cal or Tris might hear them but the worry was overpowered by my own arousal and the knowledge that I was about to bring Judy to climax.

And Judy came.

Her eyes were wide and her mouth opened soundlessly in an "O" as she sat up straight when her oragasm hit. Her tiny paws grabbed onto my ears and squeezed them tightly, tugging mercilessly. I ignored the pain and continued to lick Judy's folds as her juices filled her caverns. I lapped them up tirelessly, reveling in the taste of the sweet nectar.

Eventually Judy came down and her body relaxed. She leaned back down although she kept hold of my ears, stroking them softly now. I kissed her belly once before crawling back up to Judy's face and kissing her deeply. She was still stroking my ear and I decided to return the favor now, grabbing the base of an ear and going up the length before doing the other. "I'm ready to go now if you are," she whispered to me when she broke the kiss.

I was far more than ready by this point but I was suddenly hit by a thought, "You wanna...try something...different, this time?" I asked timidly, not sure of what she would think.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked rather excitedly.

"I was thinking...maybe, if you want, we could do...doggy style," I finished in barely more than a whisper. I wanted to try something new but if it would make Judy uncomfortable then I would respect her wishes.

"Yes," Judy said, a little breathlessly. I looked into her eyes and saw a burning passion and desire in her eyes and I knew that she was looking forward to this as much as I was.

I gave her another small kiss and licked her cute little nose before grabbing a few of the pillows and placing them in a stack on the bed. "You'll want these for support," I informed her. Judy nodded and got up on her paws and knees over the pillows. From my position behind her I could see how she lowered her back and raised her tail high in the air, giving me a full view of everything. Her ears trailed down her back, resting just below her shoulders and I would have called it cute if it wasn't also so sexy.

This bunny really turned me on.

Judy turned her head and looked at me over her shoulder. "What are you waiting for, Baby? Judy asked, pouting, "I'm waiting for you."

I couldn't take any more of this. I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. Positioning myself at her entrance, I waited only a second before pushing onwards. "Ahhh," I gasped, "Oh I've missed this so much," I muttered quietly, right into Judy's ear.

"M-me too—ooooh," Judy moaned as I slowly began to pull out again.

I chuckled slightly at her reaction but quickly turned my full attention to the task at hand. I began thrusting in and out of Judy, slowly at first and picking up speed.

Every nerve in my body was overloaded with information but none more than the ones on my member. The pleasure I was feeling from being squeezed inside of Judy was pure heaven and I wouldn't have been surprised if I had passed out from all the dopamine that was no doubt flooding my body.

Hit by a sudden urge, my mouth decided to latch itself to Judy's shoulder without consulting my brain first. The next thing I knew, I had Judy's shoulder in my mouth and I was lightly biting down enough to not quite be breaking skin but be more than noticeable. Mortified, I was about to let go when I heard a noise from Judy: A moan. "Niiiiick. Ohhhh, that f-feels so g-g...good."

Pleasantly surprised, I kept my mouth where it was and even gave Judy some licks. During this, I could feel the pressure in my loins building up to an almost unbearable level. I knew I was close and so I felt around with one of my paws for Judy's clit. Once I found it, I massaged it to bring Judy closer to her own climax as well. This earned the desired effect as Judy's breathing got shallower and her moans more urgent. "N-ick, I—ohhhh—I'm gonna cum." Not wanting to let go of her shoulder, I increased the pressure for a fraction of a second and licked her a few times to show her I heard her.

Suddenly Judy cried out perhaps a bit too loudly, "Ahhhhhhh, Nick!" She squeezed me tightly and began to spasm uncontrollably beneath and around be.

It was too much for me and with one final thrust I slid my knot into her fully, my orgasm rushing forward. My jaw tightened around Judy's shoulder and i felt something give away. Knowing that some of my teeth had probably broken skin but in too much pleasure to care, I let out something between a howl and a whine as I pumped my load inside of her, spurting shot after shot as I felt my legs begin to weaken.

I wasn't sure why, but something was different about this time from the first two time Judy and I had sex. It was so much better this time and I decided that I liked this position much more.

Both Judy and I began to come down from our orgasms and we fell on our sides. I released Judy's shoulder from my maw. I looked at it and saw that my teeth had indeed broken her skin. I saw at least seven little holes but luckily they weren't very deep or serious. All the same I felt bad that I had hurt her, "Judy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bite you like that, I—," I apologized but was cut off by Judy.

"Nick, it's fine," she assured me, "I...kinda like it." I could see Judy's ears turn a pink and I knew that she was blushing.

"Really?" I asked incredulously.

"Mhm. It's...Well, I wouldn't let anyone else...do that. But with you...I'm okay...because you're my mate. It's sort of like how I said you could call me cute; it's something special that's just between us," she explained shyly.

"I get it," I assured her. I was hit with a sudden realization at her words. "Speaking of special things just between us," I rubbed my chin all over Judy's head and neck, "I haven't actually marked you yet." Somehow, in the craziness of the beginning of our relationship I must have forgotten to mark Judy but that little issue was solved now. Hopefully my mark would prevent any other mammals from hitting on Judy if for some reason I wasn't there to stop them myself.

"Oh. Wait, that's not fair," I felt fear that for some reason Judy hadn't wanted me to mark her. Should I have asked first? "I can't mark you from here."

I laughed a little, mostly out of relief, "You can mark me later once my knot goes down. For now we're stuck here." I gave her shoulder wounds a few loving licks before laying my head down.

Judy hummed contentedly and snuggled into my chest, "Good."

After that we were silent and we probably would have fallen asleep were it not for the sudden knocking from downstairs. "Who;s visiting now?" I wondered aloud. Then I heard the door being opened.

There were no noises that I heard for a few seconds when suddenly, "Judy! Mom's here to see you!"

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) Well, that's awkward. I hope this chapter met your standards. This chapter, as you may have noticed, featured Gideon. (I sincerely hope you noticed, or you might want to check yourself for short-term memory loss). I had someone tell me they thought Gideon should make an appearance so here it is! Tell me how you think I did with his character. I think it goes without saying by now that any suggestions, criticism, comments, or anything else you might want to say is appreciated and wanted. I'll probably stop saying this soon and just leave it as an unsaid truth that I want you guys to give me your thoughts on my story.**

 **Next, like I said in the last chapter, I'm going to summer camp for the next week and I won't have the chapter done by next week. You'll have to wait to learn what's going to happen with Judy's mom. I feel kind of evil but it's just the way things worked out, sorry.**

 **I expect that most of you are happy of the return of some smut. I'm not going to be doing something like this every chapter or anything but I can pretty confidently say that there will be more. This story is not meant to be centered around Nick and Judy's sex life but their love life and what comes from it. Sex is a part of that and I feel that some important things happen during their intimate moments (Judy trusting Nick to bite her. Nick marking Judy) that need to be shown. Also, I know there are people (myself included) who like the smut so it's there. But like I said, it's not the center of this story nor will it ever be.**

 **I don't have anything else to say now, just expect the next chapter in two weeks instead of one. Have a good day! This is Jay, signing off.**


	12. Chapter 11-Knot Expecting a Visitor

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act II-The Burrows

Chapter XI-Knot Expecting a Visitor

 **(Author's Notes) Hello. It's been a long two weeks for me since the last chapter. Camp was fun but I didn't find much time to write, sadly. I also discovered I actually had a paper due just yesterday that I hadn't yet started. Thankfully, I was able to finish the essay without too much trouble, so that was good. Unfortunately, that took away from some of the time I would otherwise be using to write this story. As such, this chapter is only around 3000 words, but I actually feels that this chapter works better by itself the way it is. Hopefully you enjoy it all the same.**

* * *

"My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it."

― Rick Riordan

* * *

 **Nick POV**

7:28 p.m. Wednesday

"Shit," I looked down at the swearing rabbit who was entering full on freak out mode. "Nick, you have to get out of me, quick!" she said urgently before I felt a tug on my member.

My eyes widened and I quickly tightened my hold on her, preventing her from moving. "Judy, unless you want to injure yourself you need to relax. If I pull out of you while we're knotted you could get really hurt."

I felt Judy's body go limp in my arms and her ears pressed backwards into my face in a vain attempt to fold behind her head. "This is a nightmare," she whimpered, "What are we going to do!?"

I poked my muzzle between her ears and spoke, "There's nothing to do but wait. Your mother will just have to wait for a little." I sounded calm but honestly I was anything but relaxed at the moment. How were we going to explain our inability to leave the room to Judy's mom? Could we even do it at all? More importantly, why was she here at all?

My thoughts were interrupted by a knocking on the bedroom door followed by Tris' voice. "Did you guys hear…" her voice trailed off into nothingness.

Ignoring Tris' strange silence I called through the door, "We're a little occupied right now, can you tell her she'll have to wait."

Tris burst out in laughter and snorted, "Oh, I understand."

I looked quizzically at Judy who groaned loudly. "She can smell us," When I just looked at her questioningly she elaborated, "She was born with an extremely sensitive nose. She can smell that we had sex through the door.

My eyes widened; I was not expecting that. Although I suppose it would have become rather obvious that Judy and I had sex eventually, one way or the other when we left the room. I just didn't expect it to happen quite like that.

My thoughts were once again interrupted by another voice in the hallway outside. "Tris, why are you laughing?" It was Mrs. Hopps.

Tris managed to stifle her laughter enough to say, "Nick and Judy will ' _knot_ ' be able to come out right now." Tris' laughter renewed once more and I could practically see the tears start to run down her face. In my arms Judy groaned again at the pun while I struggled to contain a chuckle. Something told me Judy would not appreciate it if I started laughing in such a serious situation.

"What do you mean dear?" Mrs. Hopps questioned. "Do they not want to see me?" Obviously Mrs. Hopps was still completely oblivious to the situation we were in.

Judy swallowed her embarrassment and spoke loudly, her voice quivering slightly, "That's not it mom. We just...can't come out right now. You can wait, we should be out in the next half hour or so."

"Oh," Mrs. Hopps replied, still oblivious to the fact that she was missing something. "Ok, I can wait."

"Hopefully you will ' _knot_ ' have to wait very long, mom," Tris got out through her never ending laughter.

"Tris," Mrs. Hopps said, sounding irritated, "What is so funny?"

"I'm ' _knot_ ' sure if I should tell you." I couldn't help but groan myself at this point. This was getting ridiculous.

"What is it with you and 'not'. Why do you keep saying it like that?"

Suddenly Judy whispered, "What should we do?" she fretted.

"I don't know, maybe we should tell her. I mean, she'll probably find out when we leave anyway. If Tris can smell us with the door closed I can only imagine what we'll smell like when we finally get out there."

Judy nodded but didn't say anything to me and shook her head a few times, as if to clear her mind of her thoughts. She then spoke up again, interrupting whatever Tris had been saying loudly to her mom, "Mom...How much do you know about fox...anatomy?"

"I don't know dear, why?" Mrs. Hopps sounded downright confused. The question must have been straight out of left field to her. She was really having trouble connecting the dots.

"Have you heard about foxes...knotting...when they mate?"

"Judy, where are you going with—OH!" she exclaimed suddenly, realization having finally struck. "Omigod, I'm so sorry! I had no idea. You two were—oh! I can come back another time—"

"No, mom," Judy interrupted her ranting, "It's fine. Unless you'd rather go." I had to admit, as awkward as this conversation was, it was also extremely ridiculous, bordering on amusing. Were it not centered so heavily on me I could have laughed. I guess I understood where Tris stood at at them moment.

"I'll...wait, I guess."

Finally, Tris' laughter had ended, and she said to her mom, "Let's go downstairs. I'll make some tea or something." I heard the retreating sounds of pawsteps on the stairs as Tris and her mom went back downstairs.

Once I could no longer hear the two bunnies, I spoke, "Well...that just happened. Talk about bad timing." With the awkward conversation now over, I couldn't help but smile a little.

Judy didn't seem to see the humor, "That was awful. I'm never going to be able to look at either of them in the face again."

Wanting to distract Judy from her embarrassment for the time being, I asked, "Why do you think your mother's here?" She said she wanted to talk to Judy and she hadn't seemed angry at her nor me when she realized what we were doing, just embarrassed. I hoped that that was a good sign, maybe she truly didn't have as much of a problem with our relationship like we had theorized earlier. I was still cautiously optimistic however, I didn't want to be too disappointed if that turned out to not be the case.

"I don't really know," she replied, "Could be any number of things, couldn't it."

I nodded thoughtfully which resulted in me rubbing my muzzle along her cheek. Suddenly, Judy reached behind her head and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling my head further forward. Judy then rubbed her chin across my muzzle. "Ha! There, now I marked you."

I chuckled as my nose was suddenly overwhelmed by Judy's scent. Maybe her scent marking my nose wasn't the best idea, I could now hardly smell anything else. "Dumb bunny, you know you could have just waited until after my knot swelled down so you actually reach me better? You pretty much only got my nose and now you're all I can smell."

"Good," she replied smugly, "And don't worry, I'll be sure to get more of you as well once I can. I've got to make sure everyone knows you're mine."

"Hmpf. Territorial bunny," I said.

I could see Judy smile from my position behind her, "You know you love it."

I smiled as well, "Do I know that? Yes, yes I do."

We were both silent for a few moments, content with just lying there, before Judy asked, "How long has it been?"

"Probably only like ten to fifteen minutes," I answered.

Judy groaned.

* * *

 **Judy POV**

8:21 p.m.

It actually took closer to an hour for Nick's knot to go down, go figures. When he finally pulled out, it created a huge mess on the bed as our juices leaked out. It seemed like a much larger mess than normal but I wrote that off to the fact that Nick hadn't had any release since he got injured. Nick left the room to get a few paper towels from the bathroom to clean up our mess.

I still felt like I was missing something however when I remembered I still needed to mark the rest of Nick. I caught him as he wiping up our juices and marked just about every part of him I could, and yet I still felt like something was missing. Unable to find what was missing however, I tried to ignore it.

Nick and I quickly redressed, not bothering to shower since we had kept my mother waiting so long and she already knew we had sex anyway. No point in keeping her waiting any longer now. Still, the nagging in the back of my head, saying that something was missing, wouldn't go away. I could worry about that later though, now I had to talk to my mother.

Together, now dressed, Nick and I took deep breaths to steel ourselves and headed downstairs. We found my mother and Tris sitting on the couch in the living room, sipping tea. She looked rather shy and nervous to see me, as well as highly embarrassed, undoubtedly because of what had happened an hour ago. Tris' face had been expressionless when we entered but mirth had returned to her face once she saw us. Apparently, an hour did nothing to remove the humor in the situation—for Tris at least, I still didn't find it all that funny.

I made the quick decision to remain standing, to assert my dominance, and positioned myself behind the coffee table facing the couch. Something the academy had taught us about interrogations was to stay tall if you wanted to be intimidating. Although this wasn't an interrogation necessarily, I still wanted control over the conversation if it turned sour. Nick stood beside me.

My mother was the first to speak, very nervously, "I'm so sorry about earlier. If I had known I wouldn't have—"

"Mom, don't apologize. You didn't know and it's not your fault," I cut her off. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently while waiting for my mom to continue. When she wasn't forthcoming, I asked, "So, mom, why did you come here?"

"Oh, right," she shook her head to clear her thoughts, "Well, you see...I...wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday," she sighed deeply, "Your father...well, I can't say that I agree with what he said," she looked at me with pleading in her eyes and I instantly felt much better about this conversation. "I'm sorry about what he said, he was completely out of line, and...I should've stood up for you more."

I could feel my ears droop as I uncrossed my arms. I sighed as well, "Don't worry, mom, I forgive you." She looked up at me hopefully and I continued, "I don't like what dad said but it's not your fault. And you did try to stop him, he just wasn't listening."

I could see the relief in her face when I said that, "Oh, thank goodness. That brings me to the next thing I wanted to talk to you about. I'm not sure if you knew when you called, but the annual Bunnyburrow fair is on Friday over at the Thumper's farm. We were planning on surprising you two and bringing you before...you know," she trailed off for a second and I wondered where she was going with this. "Your father is receiving an award for best blueberries in Bunnyburrow. Anyway, I was thinking that maybe you and Nick could go and we could try to work something out with your father. He already likes you, Nick, he's just having a hard time seeing you two as a couple. If you can make him see that there's nothing wrong with it then I think he'll come around."

My mother looked at the two of us hopefully but I only felt a sickening dread in my stomach. After everything that had happened and everything that my father had said the other day, I wasn't sure if I could go through with what my mom was suggesting. As much as I wished that my father could accept us, I had seen what he truly felt about me being in a relationship with Nick, and what I saw was not the mammal I thought I knew. He had hurt me, bad. Not even losing Nick after the press conference for the missing mammals case hurt this bad, because that was my fault and I only had myself to blame. But this, this was my own father, the man who I had loved and admired and looked up to, spitting in my face and telling me that my life choices were wrong, that my relationship with Nick was wrong, that the best thing to ever happen to me was wrong. And something like that was not easy to get over.

I looked to Nick for guidance and he must've seen the turmoil in my eyes because he reached out and took my paws in his, kneeling so that he was at eye-level, and said softly, "Judy," and him using my true name brought a deep calm to the struggle inside me, "Don't think that you're being forced into anything. If this isn't what you want, you don't have to do it, it's fine. If you do want to go, that's fine too, but don't force yourself to do something you're not ready for. You don't deserve to be hurt any more than you already have—you don't deserve to be hurt at all."

I chewed on Nick's words, "I—," he was right, I didn't have to go if there was the chance of suffering the same pain I did earlier from my father's words, "I'll go," but I couldn't just give up so easily, that's not who I was. If I could get my dad to broaden his mind, I was going to do so.

Nick gave me a pained smile but nodded to me encouragingly all the same. He was scared that I would be hurt again, but that wasn't something I would let stop me from doing the right thing, he knew.

My mother was overjoyed, "Wonderful! I won't tell Stu you'll be there, it'd be best if he didn't know you were coming 'till he sees you." She nodded as if to reassure herself and then stood up, "I think that's it. I really need to get back to the farm, Stu doesn't know I'm here and I don't think he'd be too pleased to find out."

Nick nodded his head in agreement, "Probably not," and then he extended a paw to my mother which she took, "Thank you for doing this, Bonnie. We needed this."

"Don't thank me for apologizing, if anything I should be thanking you for accepting my apology."

I shook my head and pulled my mom into a hug once she finished shaking Nick's paw, "Seriously, mom, just accept the thanks, you don't want to get into a looping argument with Nick, he'll literally go on forever." Which was true, he had once spent an entire day on patrol insisting Gazelle's songs did not count as 'real music' until I had finally let him have his way. Although whether he did so because he was stubborn or because he enjoyed seeing me get frustrated was uncertain.

My mom made her goodbyes to Tris before she left the house. Everything was silent until the sound of a car pulling out of the driveway broke the calm. As the sound faded away I thought about the fair in two days and what was going to happen. Either we would get my father to accept us as a couple or there would be a repeat of yesterday, probably filled with more yelling and tears. If the latter happened, it would probably also mean that much of Bunnyburrow would be witness to the events. _It's not like they don't already know it already_ , I thought bitterly. If no one had approached my father about the story they had seen in the papers by now, then the world must have gone mad. News and rumors spread fast in Bunnyburrow and I wouldn't be surprised if everyone had already heard something of the argument my father and I had.

I felt a yawn escape me and I looked to see that it was nine. I'd had a long day and after having sex with Nick, I just wanted to cuddle with Nick a little and go to sleep early. As if he was reading my thoughts, I felt Nick drape one arm across my shoulders and start to guide me back upstairs. I let him take me and pressed myself as far into his chest as I could go, grabbing onto his paw which hung lazily in front of my shoulder. Nick, in turn, pulled me in tighter with his arm as we walked up the stairs and down the hall to the guest room.

Once alone in the room, I uncovered myself from Nick's arm and stripped back down to my bare fur. Nick did the same, as was our usual when sleeping, and we got back into bed. It still smelt of sex and musk, but it was not a wholly unpleasant smell, and with Nick's arms wrapped around me I could not have felt happier.

I was completely ready to let sleep take me when Nick asked, "You sure you want to go through with this?" His voice was laced with worry for me. It was endearing but he needn't worry so much about me.

"Yes, I want to show my dad that you're a good mate. I just want him to accept us, I can handle anything he might say as long as you're there with me." I stroked Nick's chest fur idly as I spoke, enjoying its softness and its Nick-ness.

"I want him to accept us too, but not if it's going to hurt you," he whispered as he ran a paw up my spine and back down, causing me to shiver.

"I'm not that fragile, Nick. I don't need to be shielded from every little thing."

"I know that, you're my tough, little bunny. Doesn't mean I can't worry about you, though. As your mate I feel obligated to do everything in my power to protect you."

I hummed contentedly, "Is my big, strong fox gonna protect me from the monsters?" I asked playfully.

"It won't be too hard. They'll take one look at my incredible muscles and run away screaming," Nick added a low growl for effect.

I snorted, "I don't know who you're fooling with those 'muscles' of yours, Wilde." I said, not entirely truthfully. He definitely had a six pack and he was by no means weak for a mammal his size. He was actually impressively strong considering his size, although I could still out-squat him. Perks of being a rabbit: Strong legs.

"Whatever, Carrots. You know you love my hot bod'," he pulled me into him closer, ceasing his movements.

"Do I know that?" I breathed into his chest as I felt the warm comfort of sleep beckoning to me, "Yes. Yes, I do."

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) I like the end of this chapter. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask what you guys think about the endings of my chapters. Occasionally I feel that they are lacking but I can never be too sure. If anyone ever feels that the ending isn't satisfactory, let me know and give me some advice on how I can fix it. Also, I'm feeling a bit 'eh' about Bonnie's apology and invitation to the fair. I'm not sure what exactly it is but it feel a bit strange to me. I would ask the same for any suggestions you may have about that part as well.**

 **Finally, I have some potentially bad news to give. Starting this Monday, preseason for soccer starts. I'm not wholly sure of how much this will impact my writing time but I will be having practices every weekday. I'll do my best to get out chapters but don't be surprised if I take longer to write them.**

 **With that, this is Jay, signing off.**


	13. Chapter 12-Deep Love

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act II-The Burrows

Chapter XII-Deep Love

 **(Author's Notes)Hiya. Quick note, this chapter will have quite a bit of fluff. And by quite a bit I mean a lot. Other than that, I want to save most of what I want to say for after the chapter, so I'll see you again when you finish the chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

― Lao Tzu

* * *

 **Nick POV**

1:39 p.m. Friday

I adjusted the collar of the light blue polo I was wearing uncomfortably as I viewed myself in the full body mirror in the guest room. The slightly scratchy fabric was an uncomfortable change from my normal, comfortable Pawaiian shirt. I preferred dressing for comfort rather than looks but today I had made an exception to satisfy Judy. She wanted to make sure that her dad had as few reasons as possible to make an argument with me and dressing nicely had been a must. Sadly, that meant I would have to spend the day being hot and sweaty in the stuffy shirt. She had also forced me to spend an even longer amount of time than normal brushing my fur. She said it had to be absolutely perfect for her father but I had an inkling suspicion she just wanted to be able to run her paws through my groomed fur. Maybe I would start brushing a little more anyway so she would be happy.

My thoughts were halted when Judy entered the room wearing a lavender sundress, which matched her eyes and accentuated her curves nicely, and straw hat. She definitely looked like the stereotypical farmer's daughter. As I studied her, she circled me, inspecting me as well and then gave a nod of approval. I whined. "Do I really have to wear this? It's so uncomfortable."

"Yes, you do. I want everything with my dad to go off smoothly and he respects mammals who dress nicely," she explained. "Besides, I think it makes you look very handsome," she smiled nicely at me, her ears bending backwards just the tiniest bit.

She was trying to hustle me with her cuteness and I knew it but I found that I didn't really mind, she _was_ really cute, and if wearing this shirt would let me see that adorable smile, then I wasn't going to argue. I smiled back, "Fine, if it'll make you happy."

"That's what I thought," she pulled out her phone to check the time, "Okay, my mom texted me yesterday telling me the fair started around 2 so we should probably get going." She put her phone back into her pocket and opened the door. "It's a 15 minute drive to Thumper farm."

I followed Judy out of the room and down the stairs where we met Tris and Cal, waiting in the living room. They were also going to the fair, now that Judy and I were. Tris said that if her dad saw them being friendly with Nick he might loosen up a bit. I was concerned that Tris' relationship with her dad might be ruined instead but she was adamant and I let it go. I had learned from Judy that, sometimes, I just had to let other make their own decisions, even if I didn't agree with them.

"You guys ready?" Tris asked, standing up from where she sat in her chair.

"Y-yeah," Judy replied, a slight tremble in her voice. She took a deep, calming breath, "let's go."

We all went outside to Cal's van, thankfully I could actually fit, with extra space, in the back so I wouldn't have to go through another 15 minute car ride hunched over in a tiny bunny car. That was not an experience I planned on repeating any time soon if I could help it.

Once we were all inside the van, Cal and Tris up front while Judy and I made ourselves comfortable in the back, Cal started up the engine. The ride started out in silence but it wasn't long before Cal asked, "Excuse me if it's rude to ask, but have you two thought about what you'll say to your father?" He momentarily glanced back at us in the rearview mirror before returning his attention to the road.

"Not much," Judy responded, "We're just going to go there and show him that we love each other and that there's nothing wrong with it." I looked down at Judy lovingly, admiring the feisty determination in her voice. She really got worked up defending our relationship. Already, her little nose was twitching furiously, morphing the anger in her face with a near unbearable amount of cuteness. I could imagine the mammals she chose to pick a fight with, conflicted about whether they should be cowering in fear or letting out '"Awww"s of delight for her nose-twitching fury. Judy's nose began to calm down and I forced the thoughts from my mind to focus on what she was saying. "Hopefully my mom will help with that, too. If she's on our side, it'll be harder for my dad to keep pushing us away."

Tris nodded thoughtfully, "Mom really is an ace up your sleeve." I couldn't help but agree. In all honesty, she really was. Without Judy's mom on our side, I couldn't really see this second meet-up with Judy's dad going much better than the first one. But having her on our side certainly tipped the scales in our favor.

"So, do you have any other plans for the fair while you're there? Or are you just going talk with Stu and then leave?" Cal asked conversationally after a few moments had passed.

"Oh," Judy perked up a little, "I hadn't really thought of that. What do you think, Nick?"

She looked at me for my answer and I continued to stare back at her, "I think I can bear to spend some time at the fair with my cute little bunny," I said with a grin as I booped our noses together playfully.

Judy giggled happily but out of the corner of my eye I could see Tris and Cal flinch a little. I kept forgetting that not everyone was used to me calling Judy cute yet. Judy must have noticed the look too because she said, "Guys, he's allowed to call me 'cute'." She groaned, "We're going to be explaining this a lot, aren't we?"

"Yup."

* * *

2:17 p.m.

The line for admission to the fair had been a little long but eventually we had gotten our tickets and made it inside. Tris and Cal had split up with us so Judy and I could enjoy the fair alone for awhile.

So far, it seemed most mammals were too concerned with having fun at the fair to pay Judy and I any attention. If anyone knew about us, they weren't saying anything, for which I was eternally grateful. I just wanted to have some fun with Judy, so this was a nice change of pace from the attention we had been getting recently.

Once inside the fairgrounds, I took a moment to look around. Several rows of brightly colored snack booths in red, blue, and white stripes were lined up in front of the entrance and I was overwhelmed by the mouth-watering scents of funnel cakes, popcorn, and grilling meat that hit me like a wall. If I hadn't had breakfast less than an hour ago, I wouldn't have been able to help myself from attacking the nearest stand, but I was still full enough to wait. Behind the stands, I could see the top of the Ferris wheel so I assumed that's where the rides were. My hunch was proven correct when Judy led us past the food stands and I saw the different rides spread out.

"So, what do you want to do first?" I asked Judy, squeezing her paw which she had placed into mine once we got in the fair. I was content to keep a hold of it so long as it didn't draw any unwanted attention from the mammals around us.

"Oooohhh. We should go one some rides. I didn't go to the fair last year and it's been awhile since I've been on any rides." She hopped a little as she walked, her joy practically radiating out of her like she was the sun.

Her enthusiasm was infectious and I found myself with the same desire to see what rides the fair had to offer. I hadn't personally been to any type of amusement park since I was a kit, before I ran away. "Sure, Carrots. How about we do that one?" I asked, pointing at the teacups ride. The one time I had gone on them as a kit, I had gotten a little sick, but it seemed like one of the cliché things couples always did at fairs and my stomach had certainly gotten a lot tougher.

"Sure." Judy seemed to like the idea and she ran up to the line where I joined her soon after.

It wasn't long before the rabbit handling the ride opened to gate to let us in and Judy charged in gleefully, me following behind at a more relaxed pace, smiling at her childishness. I found Judy already waiting in a teapot, bouncing a little in her seat. I chuckled as I hopped in and sat opposite her, "Geez, Carrots. Any more excitement and you'd probably go off like a bottle rocket." I started laughing a little harder at the image that put in my mind. "Should I get ready to call for some help in case you burst?"

Judy punched my arm playfully, but continued her bouncing all the same. "Can I not be happy to go on a ride with you?"

"Now, I didn't say that, Fluff." Suddenly the ride started up and the teacup began spinning a little. I grasped the disc sitting in the middle of the teacup and began trying to spin us. "Come on, Carrots. A little help here." Judy rolled her eyes and grabbed onto the disc as well, adding her own strength to my efforts. It wasn't long before we had our teacup spinning around at a decent speed.

Judy was laughing once more and a smile broke out across my own muzzle. That seemed to be happening a lot today, not that I was complaining as that normally meant Judy was smiling as well. I couldn't help but stare deeply into her beautiful, amethyst eyes. Her smile seemed to have spread across her entire face and her eyes were no exception, the happiness within them on clear display for all to see. The way the sun reflected off her fur making her practically glow sent shivers down my spine. It occurred to me that if I could see her like this every day for the rest of my life, I would be content. I needed nothing else for my happiness than for Judy to be happy and I knew I could be the one to make her happy.

Suddenly, the inertia caused by a sudden change in our teapot's direction caused Judy and I to collide together, disrupting my thoughts. After a second of surprise, we both started laughing once more, the two of us now side by side as we continued to spin the center disc.

By the time my arms started to get sore, the ride started slowing down. Judy and I continued our laughter until the teapot completely stopped spinning, and then I gave Judy a quick peck on the crown of her head. We got off the ride, smiling and holding paws, and left to explore the fair more.

Deciding we were kind of thirsty, we got two rather large smoothies. One blueberry for me while Judy got a carrot flavored one. We found a bench to sit at and Judy put the straw in her mouth, but before she could take a sip when I got an idea. "Hold one, Carrots. How about a little competition? We'll race to finish our smoothies and the loser has to do something for the winner." I grinned as Judy pulled her lips off her straw, knowing she wouldn't be able to back down from a challenge.

"What is 'something'? It seems a little too vague to me," she responded. Not quite the yes I was expecting but she wasn't backing down either.

I thought about what would be a suitable reward, knowing full well that I could be one the losing end of the bet as well. "How about a massage?" I suggested finally. A massage was something I would be more than happy to win but wouldn't have much of a problem giving to Judy if it came to that.

Judy smiled and nodded, "That's fair. I accept." She extended her paw for a shake, which I gladly accepted.

"Alright, positions," I announced. I put the straw in my muzzle and Judy copied the action. With my paw I held up three fingers and began the countdown. Three fingers: Judy furrowed her brows in concentration. Two fingers: she wiped her paws on her shirt to dry them off before returning them to hold her cup. One finger: Judy's cheeks sucked in a little in preparation.

As soon as my last finger dropped, Judy and I began to slurp up our smoothies as quickly as possible. I could hardly even taste the blueberries in the drink as almost as soon as the smoothie entered my mouth I was already swallowing it. My tongue was feeling numb and my teeth were getting sensitive but I continued sucking on the straw heedlessly.

Looking down into my cup I could see I was little more than halfway done. A quick glance to Judy's cup showed me she was at the same place as me. Suddenly, Judy's face screwed up in pain and she pulled away from her straw. "Ack. B-brainfreeze." she said.

Withholding my laughter, I finished my smoothie before pumping my fists in the air. "Yeah! I wi—Ah! Brainfreeze." I clenched my eyes shut and grasped my head in my paws. I could hear Judy laughing subduedly, no doubt at the fact that I now had a brainfreeze of my own. Joke was on her, though, I won and now she owed me a massage. So I joined her in her laughter.

We must have looked quite the sight to anyone who saw us. A fox and a rabbit sitting together with their heads in their paws from pain, laughing their heads off for no apparent reason. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two mammals thought we were crazy, and I couldn't necessarily disagree with them, we were, after all, laughing at each other's pain.

It took a few minutes for the pain to go away and by that time I had a new problem. "Uhh, Carrots, I need to go to the bathroom. Methinks that smoothie was a little too much for my bladder to handle."

"Ok," Judy, whom's brainfreeze had also died down, said, "I'll save a spot in line for you at the Ferris wheel while you're in there."

"Ok," I told her and fast-walked over towards the side of the fair where I had seen a few porta potties when we first came in.

I tried to finish as quickly as possible and was soon walking towards the Ferris wheel. I spotted Judy standing in the middle of the line, talking to another rabbit. I shook my head disbelievingly. Judy had the uncanny ability to start a conversation with random strangers like she had known them all her life. She really was something else.

I caught the tail-end of whatever Judy was saying to the rabbit, a buck, I could see now that I was closer. "—saving a spot in line for my mate while he's in the bathroom." A small shiver shot down my spine when Judy called me her mate. I doubted that would ever grow old for me, to have the love of my life name me as hers, her mate. Nothing could ever compare to the warm giddiness I got hearing Judy say those words, not even my graduation from the academy and my induction into the ZPD had made me quite as happy.

I was right behind Judy, a large smile spread across my muzzle, when I announced my presence, "Hey." I gave a small wave to the buck in way of greeting.

While Judy turned around in surprise, the buck gave me a once over before sneering. "I suggest you get out of line, fox, or I'll have to teach you a lesson about cutting in lines," he said with malice. My smile dropped with my ears. _Oh,_ I thought dejectedly, _Another one of_ those _mammals._

Judy, who had turned around and was looking at me with a bright smile, frowned and whipped back around. All hint of her earlier cheeriness gone with the buck's words. "Actually, _this_ is my mate. And his name is Nick, not 'fox'," she spat with extra venom, "And I think it would be best if you refrain from doing anything to harm him unless you would like to be arrested for assaulting an officer." She whipped out her badge to show the buck, who was now looking rightfully shocked and terrified.

 _Feisty bunny,_ the thought ran through my head. Then, _Sexy, feisty bunny,_ when I saw how her hip stuck out to one side as she rested one paw on it and how her tail twitched furiously in the most arousing way possible. I had to tear my eyes away before I got too excited.

The buck had finally recovered from his initial shock enough to speak, "I...Y-you're Judy Hopps. You...and him. I saw you in the paper on Wednesday." He stopped for a second and the bewilderment in her face became revulsion, "You two are disgusting." The buck turned slightly to face me, looking straight into my eyes with furious resolve. "Who do you think you are, fox, warping this poor doe's mind? What did you do to her to get her to let you into her pants, huh?"

Judy had had enough. She growled, she _actually_ growled, and took a step towards the buck so she was right in his face. "I suggest you shut your rotten, speciest, little mouth and leave before you get your ugly face beaten into a pulp." Her fists were clenched so tight that the skin beneath her fur had turned a pale white.

"I'd do as she said, if I were you," I put in, "She's more than capable." I had spent enough time on the force with Judy to know that she had the potential to take down tigers and lions without receiving a scratch, let alone beat up a rabbit.

The obviously flustered buck's stutter had returned, "Y-you can't d-do that. You're a...a cop!" He had no doubt tried to sound sure of his words, but it was lost by the fright in his eyes, his twitching nose, and the step away he took from Judy.

Judy grinned wickedly. Her voice was as icy as the coldest recesses of Tundra Town. "Perhaps not as a cop, but there's _nothing_ I wouldn't do to protect Nick as his mate. And trust me, a few punches would be a tickle compared to what I would like to do to you." She took another step forward, "I'm not going to repeat myself."

The buck stood his ground warily. "Y-you two are going to regret ever getting together. You're kind are an affront to nature." Judy took another step. The buck chuckled nervously, "I-I don't need to hang around with a couple of creeps anyway. I'm going." The buck rapidly walked away, his ears flat against his head.

Judy's anger faded and was replaced by a weary expression, which I took quick notice of. I sighed and pulled Judy close into a hug, her back pressing into my stomach. I planted a soft kiss between her ears before placing my muzzle on the same spot. "Let's just forget about him Judy. That little prick doesn't get to ruin our day at the fair, not on my watch." Judy and I had been having such a good time until that buck had decided to come and ruin it. I needed to find a way to bounce Judy back from the negativity we had just encountered.

"C'mon. The lines movin'," an annoyed voice sounded out behind me. I looked up and saw that the line had indeed moved forward and Judy and I were next to enter the Ferris wheel.

I grasped Judy's paw in my own and walked forward, tugging her along. "Let's go, Fluff. We're up." Judy acquiesced and we both got into the empty cart waiting for us at the bottom of the Ferris wheel.

We were silent as we started to ascend and I fought to think of something to break Judy's mood. I looked out at the rolling green hills and lush green forests easily visible from our high vantage point. "Bunnyburrow's really pretty beautiful, isn't it?" I settled on saying.

Judy looked out at the landscape, "Yeah, it is," she replied sadly, "Sometimes I miss it, but the city has its own type of beauty as well so I don't regret leaving this either." Judy returned to her silent, tired state and I knew I wouldn't be able to just distract Judy from this.

I sighed at length before staring deeply into her eyes which were looking down at the floor of our car. "Judy, you know that nothing that buck says matters, right? He-he can't possibly know how much I love you because I love you so much it hurts. I didn't know it was possible to feel this deeply about someone...but I love you so much that nothing matters when I'm with you other than your happiness. I'd throw myself in front of a bullet if it meant that you would be safe, Judy, because the thought of you being hurt nearly kills me. Being here without you is completely unthinkable, I-I don't know how I possibly survived 32 years without you in my life now that I've spent a year with you in it. And I can say with complete certainty that anyone who can't see that doesn't matter, because I've never said a truer thing and nothing anyone else says or does can possibly change that. Judith Hopps," I said with the utmost of sincerity apparent in every fiber of my voice. Judy finally looked up to meet my eyes with hers and my world was consumed by the beautiful amethyst orbs which seemed to envelop me with the love that burned within them. An eternity could have passed then and I would hardly have noticed past the pure happiness I felt at that moment. "I love you, and nothing will never change that."

Finally, Judy smiled, and I swear it was the most perfect thing the universe has ever seen because nothing could compare with the way her eyes sparkled with joy, and happiness, and _love_. Or how her whole face seemed to glow and shine like the sun itself had made its home within her. Or how her nose twitched just once and I swear that nothing else had ever made my heart feel like it might burst over and over again from the sheer amount of emotions that threatened to overflow at the sight of Judy so happy and, _Oh my goodness, I think I might pass out if she doesn't turn down the power on that smile that could melt Tundra Town with one glance._

Judy brought herself as close to me as physically possible and wrapped her tiny arms around my neck, pulling me slowly to her. I didn't break eye contact with her for a moment, content with staring at her with all the love I had while she brought us closer. "I love you too, you dumb fox, and nothing will ever change _that_." Then our lips connected and Judy was pulling me into her with her arms around my neck and I had somehow placed a paw on the back of her head and another on the small of her back while I held her flush against me while we were connected to each other by our muzzles in the most loving embrace I had ever known.

The kiss was slow and devoid of any sexual desire, though I had never felt a kiss more passionate. Through our kiss, I could feel all of our love, our tenderness, our devotion, flowing between us in a great river of emotions and thoughts and promises. Nothing could compare to how soft her lips felt against mine as we locked together in our love. Nor how the taste of her in my mouth which was so perfectly _Judy_ that I could have survived off of nothing else for sustenance. Nor how her soft fur against mine gave me the most delightful shivers with every small movement we made. It was in that moment that I knew Judy and I were meant to be mates, nothing could ever be more perfect than that moment and the thought that it was not meant to be was the most ridiculous thing anyone could ever think.

Time lost all of its meaning during the small eternity of that kiss, but when Judy and I finally did part reluctantly, at the same time as if by some unspoken agreement, I saw that we were about halfway down the other side of the Ferris wheel. Judy's face was still right in front of mine and I could feel every breath she let out as she tried to catch her breath from our kiss. "You," Judy breathed, "have got to be...the corniest...sappiest...most _wonderful_ fox that ever lived."

I smiled lovingly at her, "You know...you love me," I replied, breathing just as heavily. That had certainly seemed to improve Judy's mood, I felt a certain amount of pride at making her happy once again.

"I wouldn't have you...any other way...you dumb fox." Judy pecked me once on the lips before sitting on my lap and burrowing her way into my chest. I wrapped my arms and tail around her small form and planted a kiss on her head.

As wonderful as everything was at the moment, I knew that we still had to confront Judy's father sometime during the fair today. There was a very good chance of a repeat of Tuesday and that could very well return Judy to her funk I had just gotten her out of. I would have to be by her side the whole time, ready to do anything to protect her should the meeting turn sour. Already, Judy had been hurt by the words of others, and I wasn't going to let it happen again anytime soon. I would serve as Judy's protector, her shield against the fire of our enemies, and I would do anything I needed to do so.

* * *

4:35 p.m.

Judy and I had spent a good two hours at the fair, going on rides together, enjoying the exquisite cuisine the fair had to offer, sharing laughs and jokes. I'd had the time of my life, but unfortunately the fun and games had to end at some point, and that time was fast approaching.

A few minutes ago, Judy had received a text from her mother telling her that the award ceremony was approaching soon. The ceremony was to take place under a massive pavilion tent set up to the side of the fair. Mrs. Hopps thought it would be best to confront Judy's father just before the awards were announced since he would be at his happiest at that time, and therefore less likely to explode at the sight of us. I could only hope she was right. The ceremony started at 4:45, which left us ten minutes to find Judy's father and talk to him before the ceremony started.

As we rounded the corner of the last row of food stands, the tent came into view. It really _was_ massive, I bet it could have fit a few thousand rabbits underneath it at once. However, I wasn't able to admire the grandeur of the tent for long before I noticed Judy was standing silently at my side. I could see the nervousness that took over her face and the hesitation in her expression. I gave her an affectionate nuzzle, whispering into her ear, "You don't have to do this. It's not too late to leave."

She leaned into the nuzzle and I closed my eyes at the increased pressure. "No. I've already made my mind up about this. We're going in there."

I nodded, "Well then, what are we doing out here," I motioned towards the tent, "Party's in there." I extended my arm for her to take, which she happily did.

She took one more breath, "Let's go." Together, we walked under the pavilion and I was immediately hit by a wave of coolness at the provided shade. After two hours in the sun, the reprieve was a welcome gift.

My height allowed me to see above the many rabbits so I began scanning for the faces of Bonnie or Stu amongst the crowd. Somehow, despite the vast expanse of rabbits, I was able to identify the two standing close to the stage, presumably to wait for the award. I nudged Judy with my elbow and pointed her in their direction. Judy nodded in understanding and we began the walk.

A small knot formed in my stomach in preparation for the possibility of another shouting match. Yet, I knew that whatever I was feeling, Judy had it ten times worse. I could see her try to keep her composure but her eyes gave her away. I could see her anxiety and her uncertainty play across her features, invisible to anyone but me. A life as a con mammal and my deep connection with Judy had turned her into an open book for me to read, and right now, I could read her fear that her father would reject her once more, and her hope that maybe he would understand this time.

I didn't know what to say to comfort her. I had already gone through every possible variation of, 'Everything will be alright,' so that anything I could say now would only be repeating myself. So instead, I moved my arm from our link so that I was instead holding her paw. Judy looked up at me when I performed the motion and I couldn't think of anything to do but smile and give her paw a gentle squeeze, which I did. Judy smiled back, albeit weakly, just as we approached her parents.

As one, we turned our heads to look at them and I saw the moment that Stu noticed us as well and his face underwent a transformation. First he was surprised, then confused, finally his face was consumed by fury as he wordlessly moved his mouth, trying to find words. "Y-y-y-YOU!" he finally exploded, pointing his finger at me. He swelled up as he went to take a breath but was stopped by the screams that split the air.

A loud _snap_ , which I identified as a gunshot, tore through the screams and my ears flicked in its direction as I spun around so fast my neck spasmed. I turned around to see the same buck we had encountered in the line for the Ferris wheel, standing in the center of a large hole in the crowd of mammals, with a gun pointing up in the air. His features were twisted into an insane expression, his eyes bugging slightly while random muscles across his face twitched spontaneously. One of his ears bent forward at the middle while the other bent backwards, making him look like some kind of bunny propeller and his nose wriggled incessantly like it was trying to rid itself of an annoying fly. His fur and clothes were rumpled and glistened with sweat like he had just gotten into a fight.

Suddenly, he moved the gun to point at Judy, licking his lips. And he _smiled_! The crazy bastard fricking _smiled_ , like it was his birthday, and yelled in a crazed tone, much different from the voice he had used earlier, "Officers Hopps and Wilde! it is time for you to pay for your crimes against nature!"

Now, much like my ability to read people, my life as a con artist had put me into the habit of paying attention to details. This was particularly helpful as an officer, noticing details like if a perp was showing signs of drug use which may affect their judgement, or whether the bulge in a mammals pocket was a gun or something less harmful. However, never was there a time that I was more thankful for that habit than that moment, because it was that habit which let me notice the way the buck's hand twitched before he moved his finger. As an officer, I would normally talk to the perp to get them to release the gun, so had I not noticed that twitch my training would have had me try to convince the buck to calm down rather than dive in front of Judy just as the buck pulled the trigger on the gun.

And then it would be Judy, lying on the floor with a gunshot wound in her chest.

Then it would be Judy, bleeding out surrounded by thousands of screaming, terrified rabbits.

Then it would be Judy, quickly losing consciousness as her mate stood above her, tears staining my fur as I wailed and screamed and yelled.

Right before the blackness took me, I smiled, knowing that Judy wasn't hurt, that she was okay. _Judy's okay._

* * *

 **Judy POV**

13 seconds earlier

I stared into the insane eyes of the buck, my cop instincts kicking in, telling me to calm him down. All the mammals around us were in danger with this crazy, gun-wielding rabbit around and I needed to remove the threat as soon as possible. I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped when the orange-red blur flashed in front of my eyes, accompanied by a second loud _bang_ rending through the air.

It took all of a second for my brain to register the crumpled mass of red fur that was Nick lying at my feet, and after that second I dropped to my knees so fast pain shot through them from the hard impact with the floor. But I didn't care because, _Oh_ God _, there's a hole in Nick's chest and there's blood. So much blood…_

"NO! NICK!" The unearthly wail escaped my lips and I heard laughter coming from in front of me. I looked up at the buck, the mad rabbit who had come here with a gun and shot _my_ Nick, was standing there, the gun hanging limply in his hand, _laughing_ like Nick getting shot in the chest was some sort of _joke._

Anger, and hate, and _loathing_ filled my head, but before I could do anything another red blur flew across my vision and tackled the buck, delivering a hard blow to his head, knocking him out. The red blur then looked up at me and I saw that it was actually Gideon, the fox who had long ago clawed me had now come to me help. I wanted to say something to thank him, but the grimace he wore on his face brought my attention back to Nick.

I looked back down at the face of the fox, my partner, my mate. Nick. The one who had somehow managed to once again take our love and magnify it by infinity plus one. Nick made me feel so safe and happy and loved all at once for no other reason because he loved me as well. Not even a full week ago had I realized just how much he meant to me yet it already felt like an eternity had passed. The thought of him not being there in my life made me want to just die, because he was everything that made my life enjoyable. And here he was, bleeding out in my arms, as the light faded from his beautiful green eyes that might never shine with some sly joke again.

My eyes were soaked by tears I hadn't noticed I was shedding but I now cursed because they were blurring my vision so I couldn't focus on Nick's handsome features in what could be his last moments and it wasn't _fair_. _Why couldn't it have been me. Why did you have to be a hero, dumb fox._

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to look upon the face of my father, which showed nothing but remorse and regret. And I looked into that face and so much anger and frustration surfaced that I couldn't give a _shit_ about how my father felt because I needed someone to blame for everything I was feeling and he had had the audacity to insult Nick and now Nick was lying here dieing and my dad was fine.

So I swung a fist and connected with my dad's jaw. He dropped to the floor like a rock, his face absolutely shocked, but he did nothing ass I rained blows down on him. Now he just looked resigned to his fate and that only made me angrier and I was about to start punching even harder when big, strong hands wrapped themselves around me and pulled me away.

I kicked and screamed and tried to get the hands, which I now saw belonged to Gideon, to release me when they brought me back to Nick. I looked back down at my mate's broken, bleeding body and all the anger drained away. I collapsed back down at Nick's side and held him close to me as I sobbed violently as some high-pitched noise pierced through my noise-blindness.

I suddenly felt tired and my sobs slowed down as I held onto Nick's body desperately and felt the weakening heartbeat that normally made me feel so safe and comfortable but was now bringing Nick closer and closer to death with each beat.

 _Sirens,_ I realized what the high-pitched sounds were, _An ambulance. Hang in there, Nick._

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) Hoooo boy. I have a lot to say this time, so bear with me. I know I started off by saying there would be a lot of fluff in this chapter, and I wasn't really lying. There** _ **was**_ **a lot of stuff...And there was also all of this bad stuff at the end. I had to balance out the sweetness somehow! Please don't hurt me.**

 **I just realized that I've really been beating up Nick in this story. First he gets his shoulder slashed, then he gets stabbed in the back, and now he gets shot in the chest. I swear to god Nick is probably my favorite character in** _ **Zootopia**_ **, but I guess that's part of the reason I have to hurt him so much. Plus, I kind of wanted to give Nick a chance to really be a hero since Judy is the much more obvious good one. I don't know, it just always seems to suit my plans better to have Nick be the one in the line of fire. Oh well, if Nick has to get hurt for the sake of plot, then so be it.**

 **On another note, this marks the end of Act II of** _ **Can A Fox Love A Bunny?**_ **Our favorite fox/bunny duo will be heading back to Zootopia next, and I can tell you, I have some crazy stuff brewing. Expect a veritable whirlwind of drama soon.**

 **Though that also brings me to another thing. I was really quite lucky to finish this chapter this Sunday. I spent pretty much the whole day writing to get this finished so that I could get it out to you guys. The amount of soccer I've had to do this week has been something else. Pretty much every day except Sunday, my entire morning and the beginning of my afternoon has been shot, not to mention stuff I have to do that isn't soccer. My normal time for writing has been greatly diminished and I highly doubt I will get the next chapter finished by next Saturday. Not to say that I won't try, because I will certainly be doing everything I can to get the next chapter done ASAP, but there is every possibility that it won't happen. So, I'm going to go ahead and say that, at least for now, there will be no set schedule for the story. I'm pretty much just going to work on the chapters and post them when I finish, whenever that is. So don't be surprised if the next chapter gets posted on a Tuesday or anytime else. Again, I'll do my best to get chapters finished as quickly as possible, but I can't promise anything with how busy I am.**

 **In better news, I actually wrote a chapter for a story by another author. If any of you have yet to encounter the works of Selaxes, I highly suggest that you check him out, as I personally enjoy his writing. But as I was saying, I got into contact with Selaxes and wrote a chapter for his story** _ **Tails of the High Seas.**_ **Basically, the story is an AU that takes place around the years 1680-1710(that means pirates) where Nick is a navy captain and Judy is the daughter of the lord of the colony of Bunnyburrow. WildeHopps is most certainly in the story, but there is more as well to liven it up. I absolutely** _ **loved**_ **the story, and, as I said already, ended up writing a chapter for it. I** _ **highly**_ **suggest you check it out and give Selaxes my love.**

 **I think that's it for this time. So, wishing you a good day, Jay.**


	14. Chapter 13-Dysfunctional Families

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act III-Family

Chapter XIII-Dysfunctional Families

 **(Author's Notes) Hello again. There's something I need to clear up about the last chapter. Now, I'm not sure where this false information came from, but there seems to be a fair amount of people who thought Nick was shot by a shotgun. I realize that I never specified the type of gun used so I'm saying now that it was simple pistol. Hopefully that clears up any confusion anyone had because of my lack of details.**

 **With that taken care of, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Would 'sorry' have made any difference? Does it ever? It's just a word. One word against a thousand actions."

― Sarah Ockler, Bittersweet

* * *

 **Judy POV**

11:23 p.m. Friday

I opened my eyes, only to close them a second later because of the blinding white light that attacked them. Slowly, I opened one eye to a squint so that it could adjust to the light. As I tried to see through the bright blur that filled my vision, my brain worked to figure out where I was and why it was so bright. Surely I wouldn't go to sleep with the light on, right?

Finally, I could see well enough with my one eye. So, while I opened my other eye so it could adjust as well, I quickly looked to my right. I noticed I was lying in a slightly too-large bed with pure white sheets. A few cabinets and tables with medical equipment lined the perimeter of the room to my right. _A hospital? Why am I in a hospital,_ I wondered. Then my thoughts turned to something more important. _Wait, if I'm in the hospital, then where is Nick? Wouldn't he be here with me?_

And that was when it all hit me. _Nick got shot. Is he okay? Where is he? How long have I been asleep?_ The questions kept coming until it was finally too much. I struggled to remove the sheets from my body before I finally managed to throw them off me. Just as I swung my legs off the bed, I heard some noise coming from the left of the bed and turned to find their source. Or sources, I realized as I saw two familiar faces, although I couldn't have been less pleased to see one of them.

"Judy, you're awake! Oh, thank goodness!" my mother exclaimed worriedly. She was already making her way around the bed to where I was trying to get up. "You really shouldn't be getting out of bed, Honey," she fretted over me.

"Mom," I snapped urgently, perhaps a bit too harshly because she immediately shut up, "Please," I had so many questions I wanted answers to but I immediately threw out all of them except for one, "Is Nick okay?" My own voice sounded different, I sounded like a terrified little kit to my ears. I didn't have time to dwell on the fact though, I needed an answer.

My mom opened her mouth but someone else answered, "He's lost a lot of blood but the doctors say he'll be fine. He's still unconscious, though."

I had almost forgot about the owner of the voice because of my worry for Nick. My head snapped back to my left to see my father standing by the side of the bed. My face hardened instantly as I glared at him, "What are you doing here?" I said it like an accusation, he had no right to be here after everything he had done.

He was obviously hurt by my words but he still said, "Jude, you're in the hospital, where else would I be?"

My anger continued to grow as I growled, "Hmmm, I don't know. You seemed to have no problem not caring about me…" I stopped for a second as another question hit me. I stage whispered to my mom, "What say is it?"

"Still Friday, Dear," she answered.

I nodded in thanks before turning back to my dad, "A few days ago," I finished my earlier statement.

My dad's ears dropped and his whole face fell, "I...I know. I've…been absolutely horrible these past couple of days. And I'm...I'm sorry, Jude. I didn't want to see you in a relationship with...with a fox, but after seeing him...risk his life to save you...I've realized that he's the best mammal for you. I wish I could take back everything I've done these past few days. I-I was such a bad parent, Jude, I'm so sorry." After his poor excuse for a speech he attempted a smile, looking hopefully at me.

I almost took pity on him. "No." Almost. The smile vanished from my father's place replaced once again by a sad look. It had no effect on me however, I was already far past the point of caring about how he felt. "You do _not_ get to do that. You don't get to just say 'sorry' and expect everything to be okay all of a sudden." Maybe my emotions were a little strained right now because of Nick but right now I didn't care. I needed someone to blame right now and my father had a pretty big 'X' on his head. "Do you have any idea what Nick and I have been through _on top of_ all the things you said and did to us? Remember how Nick got stabbed before we came to Bunnyburrow? That was because some mammal who, like you, didn't think Nick and I should be together, decided to try to kill him. That's why we were visiting in the first place, to get away from the city so everything could cool down a little. And then you decided to say all of those horrible, speciest things and Nick had to spend the next couple of days trying to cheer me up because of _you_." The ranting felt good, being able to vent my anger felt good. I especially took pleasure in the way my father flinched at my words. But I wasn't done yet.

"Did you ever wonder why Nick and I were at the fair in the first place, hmm? We were there to talk to _you_ to try and get you to accept my relationship with Nick. If you hadn't driven us away in the first place, this wouldn't even have happened. And now that Nick has been _shot_ , now that you're responsible for what's happened, _now_ you apologize and think that everything's just fine. That is _not_ the way it works."

"Judy, I—"

"NO!" I practically shouted, causing my dad to jump. I was so unbelievably angry at this point that I just wanted my dad to shut up. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say. Just...leave," I pointed to the door. My father just stared at me with his mouth opened just a little while he didn't move. "GO! Get out! I don't want you here right now," I reiterated and that seemed to break him from his stupor. He trudged out of the room dejectedly, his head hanging low.

It was then that I saw my mom also going to leave and I remembered that she was still there. "You can stay, Mom. I'm not mad at you," I informed her.

She shook her head sadly. "No, I should go with him, he's going to need me." She went to leave but stopped once more to say, "He really does mean it, you know. Ever since the incident at the fair, he hasn't said a thing except to worry about you and to say how sorry he is about what he's done. He feel terrible, it's eating him on the inside now that he's realized what he was doing." I grunted, refusing to acknowledge what my mom said.

She then turned back to leave once more but was blocked by the looming figure of Chief Bogo. "Excuse me," she said politely before exiting once Bogo had cleared the doorway. He then entered through the doorway to come standing next to my bed.

The Chief was looking at me pityingly but I was slightly confused that the Chief was here. "Chief, did you come all the way out to Bunnyburrow for this?" I wouldn't expect Bogo to travel so far out of the city seeing as he was the Chief of police, even if one of his officers got injured.

Bogo took on a look of confusion to match mine, "Has no one told you yet?" he asked gruffly.

"Told me what?" I asked, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"We're at Zootopia General. None of the doctors at Bunnyburrow were properly equipped to perform the surgery on Nick so they were forced to bring him here instead. Luckily, they were able to stop the bleeding before hand and he made the trip safely." I nodded in acknowledgement. "Has anyone told you about Wilde's condition yet?"

I nodded, "My parents said the doctors think he'll be fine but he's still unconscious."

"That's the gist of it, yeah. The bullet entered through his chest and punctured a lung. The doctors had to do surgery to remove the bullet and put in a chest tube for his lung. Everything's looking good right now and he should wake up within a day or so."

"I need to go see him," I say trying to get off the bed, but Bogo places a hoof on my shoulder keeping me in place.

"Hold up, Hopps. You need to get a doctor to check up you first."

"Sir, I'm fine. I'm not the one who got shot," I tried to say but Bogo paid my words no mind.

"Maybe not, but you did pass out. The doctor's want to check up on you first," he said, some measure of concern barely evident in his voice.

I groaned in frustration but flopped back onto the bed anyway. "Get me a doctor, then," I commanded.

Bogo nodded and walked out of the room, supposedly to find a doctor. In the meantime, I remained on the bed, letting most of my worry to fade away. Nick was going to be okay, it would take a while for him to recover, but he would be okay.

Now that my mind was free to think about things besides Nick's well-being, I focused on the next big problem I saw. Mammals were going to absurd lengths to end mine and Nick's relationship. First stabbing and now shooting, I was beginning to worry about whether or not Nick and I would ever be safe. If things kept up like this, it wouldn't be safe for Nick and I to be anywhere in public, and that would basically mean the end of our jobs as police officers. After all, if we weren't able to keep ourselves safe, there was no way we could protect the public. This thought really scared me, to lose everything I had worked for since I was a kid would be devastating. The only consolation I would have is that I would still have Nick with me. And that would be enough, I could live with that. It might be hard at times, it might seem like the whole world is against us at times, but I'd still be happy.

Except right now Nick wasn't with me and I really wanted to see him again. _What is taking Bogo so long?_ I silently fumed. I was kept waiting another minute before Bogo returned with a female badger in a white doctor's jacket. "Hello, Miss Hopps. Glad to see you're awake," the doctor said cheerfully. "I apologize for this, but I'm required to give you a quick check-up before you can leave."

"Okay," I responded impatiently, just wanting her to finish as quickly as possible so I could go to see Nick.

It didn't take her too long to run through a few tests and ask me about how I was feeling, but it felt like an eternity before she finally said, "Okay. You seem to be in fine health. You're free to go."

Relief flooded my system and I quickly hopped out of the bed. "Oh, thank goodness," I breathed.

I made to exit the room, hardly acknowledging the doctor, but was stopped by the deep rumbling of Bogo's voice, "Hopps, you don't know where Wilde's room is."

I turned around, ready to respond with some sort of rebuttal, but realized he was right. "Oh," I said simply, my ears dropping.

"I'll show you," Bogo offered, "I need to see if he's woken up yet, anyway." I spent a second wondering if he _needed_ to see Nick, or if he was just worried and wanted to check up on him because he _wanted_ to.

Deciding that it didn't matter, I nodded my head once, "Thanks." I just wanted to see Nick as soon as possible.

* * *

 **Nick POV**

 _Floating feels rather peaceful,_ I decided. I would know because I was aimlessly drifting about in a black space, quite literally. Well, not completely literally, this was all just in my head after all. At least I was fairly certain it was; it seemed to be the only logical explanation for my state of being at the time. Still, it was nice to finally be able to let everything go, at least for a little bit.

 _Why was I so stressed out again?_ I wondered. My mind was in a bit of a haze, it probably had something to do with the fact that I was sleeping. _Oh yeah,_ I remembered, _Judy._ I closed my eyes, happy that I had remembered...then they shot back open. _Judy!_ Some of the fog that clouded my thoughts began to dissipate as I remembered what had happened at the fair. _Is she okay?_

The previously peaceful feeling of drifting suddenly became very infuriating. I didn't want to be floating around in my head, sleeping, while I had no idea if Judy was safe. I worked harder to mentally pull myself out of the fog, out of my sleep. The darkness of the void began to fade as a tiny pinprick of light appeared and began to grow, clearing my mind.

Just before the light enveloped me, when my thoughts were completely cleared, I couldn't help but think, _Isn't this just cliché as fuck_.

* * *

3:01 a.m. Saturday

The light disappeared as quickly as it came, to be replaced by a darkness I quickly identified as my eyelids. I quickly opened my eyes, hoping to find a way to learn whether Judy was okay or not, when I realized two things.

One, maybe the light hadn't disappeared like I though it had, because the brightness of wherever I was was positively blinding and my eyes closed just as quickly as they opened.

And two, my chest hurt like a _bitch_.

I remembered jumping in front of Judy when that psycho shot his pistol, but that was about it. If the throbbing pain in my chest was anything to go by though, I had definitely taken the bullet. I was relieved to know that the bullet hadn't hit Judy, but that didn't stop me from groaning from the sudden flood of pain I felt.

I supposed I wasn't going anywhere right away, but I still decided to open my eyes to a squint so they could adjust to the light. The sooner I could see again the better. As I was doing this, I heard something that relieved all of my worry as quickly as it had come. "Nick!? Are you awake," Judy's voice asked, nearby. If I had to guess, she was probably sitting right next to the bed and if she was at my bed, then that meant she was okay.

I opened my mouth to answer Judy, but what came out sounded more like a chorus of dying frogs. "Oh," Judy said, "I'll get you some water." Now that she said that, I realized that my throat was really dry. I could hear the sounds of her paws padding across the floor and I was scared she was going to leave for a second before I heard a sink in the room turn on and I relaxed a little, knowing she was still there.

The faucet turned off and a few seconds later I felt something pressing against my lips. Greedily parting my lips, Judy tipped the cup, pouring the cool water into my parched mouth and throat. I drank the entire glass to sate my thirst and I finally felt like I could talk again. "Judy," I croaked, my voice sounded weak but at least it worked now. "Are you hurt?"

Judy laughed humorlessly, "Dumb fox, you got shot and you're wondering if I'm okay." I could practically see her shaking her head. "I'm completely fine. The real question is," I felt Judy's paw slip itself into mine, "How are _you_ feeling?" She stroked my knuckles with her thumb.

"It hurts, but I think I'll live." I grinned but I have a feeling it might have come out as more of a grimace. Getting shot _hurt_.

Judy was silent for a second, "Will it hurt if I kiss you?" she asked in barely above a whisper..

I knew exactly what Judy was thinking, because the same feelings were running through me. We had just had a close call and all I wanted right now was to have Judy close to me, to reassure me that she was okay. "I don't care," I breathed, and before I had time to react Judy was on the bed, pressing her lips into mine.

There was no urgency to our kiss, instead it was slow and constant. Just the two of us, together, like we should be. Her taste and scent seemed to seep into every part of my body, filling me. Finally, after everything that had happened in the past day, I could completely relax, knowing that, at least for now, we were both fine and we were both together.

Then the door opened and Judy broke the kiss as a small, "Oh," came from the door. My eyes had finally adjusted, though, and I took a moment to take in Judy's face, the sight bringing a huge smile to my face, before I turned my attention to the doorway.

A sheep was standing in the doorway, his face tinted red and appearing slightly flustered. He quickly collected himself and acted as if he hadn't seen anything, "Mr. Wilde, you're finally awake. That's good, we're going to have to perform a few tests, if you don't mind." He began to walk towards me, not waiting for an answer. "Now, tell me if this hurts." Without hesitation, he prodded my chest with his finger, hard.

I swear, my chest must have burst into flames at the sudden touch. "AH!" I smacked his paw away and turned to Judy. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

She just smiled.

* * *

3:19 a.m.

That torturer who tried to pass as a doctor had finally left. I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to make it out alive. Honestly, that sheep must have seriously enjoyed seeing me in pain, Judy too. I would have thought she might have tried to protect me a little more considering that I had almost just died, but she got a kick out of my discomfort and obvious pain. Now, though, Judy was lying at my side, one of her arms draped lightly over my chest so as to not cause me any pain.

The doctor had given me all the details of my injury and surgery as well as where I was. I barely understood most of what the doctor had said but I was surprised to learn that we were back in Zootopia. It was nice to back home again, but I was worried about how safe it was for Judy and I to be here. We didn't really have much of a choice while I was injured but we might have to leave again once I recovered, depending on the anti-interspecies situation at that time. According to the doctor, that time would be in a month or two, so there was a chance that things would calm down by then. I could only hope. I didn't have to worry about that right now, though. Right now, I had Judy at my side and she was okay and safe and that was what mattered.

I was perfectly set to just fall back asleep with Judy at my side when the door opened again. My eyes widened in fear until I saw that, instead of the torture-loving sheep doctor, Chief Bogo stood in the door, frowning, then my eyes widened even further in fear. I wasn't sure what put Bogo into a bad mood, but a frowning Bogo was never a good thing.

Judy seemed to be thinking the same thing because she quickly scrambled off of the bed and into a chair. Bogo approached us, his expression softening as he went, allowing me to relax. Whatever had Bogo in a bad mood, it wasn't us. "Wilde, it's good to see that you're awake. You gave us quite a scare, but I'm glad you're okay," he said sincerely. All of his usual gruffness was gone, replaced by a softness one wouldn't expect from the chief of police.

"Thanks, Chief."

The Chief nodded in response. "Reports have come back on the buck that attacked you, Wilde, and it turns out he was under the influence of cocaine at the time of the shooting. We have more than enough to put him away for life at this point and an entire pavilion-full of witnesses, you're not going to have to worry about him any more."

"Good," I said coldly. I held no sympathy towards the buck that had tried to kill Judy, he deserved to rot in prison.

Bogo ignored my words and said, "I want you both to know that the entire precinct is supporting you. We're all rooting for you to get through all of this, we need you both back at the precinct." I did indeed feel a little better hearing that our friends back at the precinct were on our side. Sometimes it was hard to see around all of the mammals that were against us. _Especially when those mammals included your family_ , I thought bitterly, thinking of Judy's parents. I wondered what was going on with them right now, after everything that had happened back at the fair. "Well, that's all, Wilde. Hopps. You two take care of each other, I don't think I've seen something you haven't been able to accomplish together." He nodded to each of us and, with that, left the room.

Neither of us said anything at first, until Judy decided to break the silence, "It's nice to hear that our friends from the precinct are with us," she said, echoing my earlier thoughts.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Hey, Judy, do you know how your parents are? Are they fine after the whole thing at the fair, or what?"

Somehow, Judy managed to simultaneously frown and appear timid. The faintest blush appeared underneath her fur but she said with confidence, "They were here. My dad wanted to apologize for what he did...and I told him no. I sent them away."

I hadn't realized that my muzzle dropped in shock at first, but I recovered and asked her incredulously, "Why would you do that? The only reason we went to the fair was to try and get your father to accept us. And you're saying that when he tried to do that, you told him no!?" Sure, I was upset about everything Judy's father had said and done, but I couldn't fathom why Judy wasn't accepting her dad's apology now that he was forthcoming.

She just nodded. I laughed, although only half amusedly. Honestly I was just confused and perhaps a little frustrated at her logic. "Why? Why go through all this trouble for nothing?"

"Because, the only reason he's apologizing is because you got shot," she stated, throwing her arms in the air like it was the craziest thing in the world, "He just feels guilty that you got shot because of him."

I shook my head good-naturedly and grabbed one of Judy's paws with the one closest to her. I knew that Judy wouldn't really think like this. She was just acting on all of the emotions she was feeling recently and now it was my job to bring back her normal, good-natured self. "Judy, does it really matter _why_ he's apologizing. The point is, he knows that what he did was wrong and now he wants to change, you just need to give him a chance." I searched for another way to explain my point, "What if our ancestors never forgave each other for what they did when they were all still savages. Once they realized that what they used to do was wrong, they forgave each other and were able to move forward in a better world. If they hadn't been able to do that, all of Zootopia wouldn't even exist.

"This is the same thing. You can either continue hating your father for how he used to be, or you can forgive him and we can all move forward. You understand?"

Judy nodded slowly. "I...didn't think about it like that." The frown left her face, "You're right," she sighed. "I'll call my parents later, though. I just want to sleep with you for a little while first."

"That sounds good to me," I said, closing my eyes and yawning loudly. A lot had happened in the last 24 hours and some more sleep sounded wonderful. Judy could call her parents later. I felt Judy climb back onto the bed and tenderly cuddle into me again.

Just as I completely relaxed myself, however, the door swung open again. I groaned. I wanted to know who had disrupted us again because people seemed to have a knack for walking in at the most annoying times.

I got my answer when I looked back at the doorway. _Oh...shit._ Was all I could think. I don't think I had ever been more surprised than by what I saw standing in the doorway to my hospital room. I could feel Judy shifting against me as she, too, looked at the doorway. "Hello?" She was obviously very confused at the sight and, while I was too, the shock I was experiencing greatly outweighed the confusion.

Then, a voice I hadn't heard in 28 years, a voice that was so unfamiliar to me that I almost didn't recognize it, spoke. "Nick."

I swallowed the large lump that had appeared in my throat, managing to choke out a single word. "D-dad."

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) Oh, snap crackle pop! What!? Nick's dad!? I'm not sure if this is a worse cliffhanger than the last one or not. But I need to give credit where credit is due, though. The idea to bring Nick's father into this story was not mine. The idea was given to me by TheSpiderHunter and I couldn't pass it up. For reasons I cannot fathom, I had decided that Nick's father was, for all intents and purposes, completely gone. So, I must thank TheSpiderHunter for giving me the idea, or else it would have completely escaped me. Remember, don't be afraid to feed me any suggestions you have, they may very well end up in the story at one point or another.**

 **Moving on, in case you didn't notice, this chapter marks the beginning of Act III, Family. Now that Nick and Judy are back in Zootopia, things are going to be changing quite a bit. What with Nick's father making an appearance, Judy's parents, and a few other surprises I have up my sleeves, expect some drama in the very near future and this Act in general. It should be a lot of fun, hopefully you'll agree with me.**

 **Also, let me know how the unconscious/dream scene in the beginning of Nick's POV was. Writing dreams and the like is always kind of strange, so some feedback would be appreciated. As always, anything else you want to say about the rest of the story is welcome as well. I hope you all enjoyed the latest installment of** _ **Can A Fox Love A Bunny?**_ **Until next time, hoping you have a good day, Jay.**


	15. Chapter 14-Forgive You

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act III-Family

Chapter XIV-Forgive You

 **(Author's Notes) Real quick, I want to apologize for how long this took and how short this chapter is. All will be explained in the Author's Notes at the end. For now, enjoy.**

* * *

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

― Mahatma Gandhi, All Men are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections

* * *

 **Judy POV**

3:25 a.m. Saturday

"D-dad."

I could practically hear my mind exploding from shock. When I had first seen the fox standing in the doorway, I thought that perhaps he had gotten the wrong room or something, so I was understandably surprised when he said Nick's name. But never in a million years would I have been prepared for Nick to call the fox 'dad'. To say I was speechless would be an understatement. I seemed to have completely forgotten what words were or how my mouth even worked. All I could do was sit there, my face no doubt the epitome of shock, and gape at the fox who was Nick's father.

Nick seemed to be just as shocked as I was to see the fox as he hadn't said a word since naming him as his dad. I wasn't able to tear my eyes away from the fox to look at Nick to check though. The fox in the doorway hadn't moved since he entered, instead opting to nervously shuffle his feet while he stared at the floor. His ears lay flat against his scalp and his tail had tucked itself between his legs. The red of his fur blending with some grays which hinted at his older age. When he looked up, revealing deep, emerald green eyes identical to Nick's, and whispered, "Nick. L-long time no see, huh?" He attempted a weak grin.

I could have groaned were the circumstances different; his humor was just as bad as Nick's. Nick seemed to agree about the inappropriate timing of the joke because it was then that he decided to speak, "Why are you here?" His voice was still cold, and I was immediately reminded of the conversation I had just had with my parents. It seemed Nick felt the same way about his father as I did mine. Except Nick was telling me to forgive my father but he was doing exactly what I did himself. He was letting his emotions get the better of him, just like me, and wasn't thinking properly.

Nick's father's grin faltered, then disappeared entirely. "Nick, I...I just needed to come see you." The simplicity of the explanation left me stunned. 28 years of absence and the only reasoning he had for making an appearance was 'he needed to see Nick'. I wanted Nick to forgive his father but he wasn't helping himself very much so far.

I wanted to make my thoughts known but felt it wasn't my place to, considering that this was a conversation between Nick and his father whom he hasn't seen for 28 years. "That's it!? That's all you have to say to explain 28 years of not being there for me or mom!?" Nick questioned, his voice rising. "You think that you can just decide to come here after all this time and act like everything's all peachy!? Do you have any idea what we had to go through after you left!? Do you!?" I could see 28 years of anger, frustration, and also confusion coming out now that Nick finally had his dad in front of him again. It must be hard for Nick to give his father a chance after spending so much time hating him. But I knew that Nick was a relatively forgiving mammal, if him forgiving me after the press conference for the missing mammals case was anything to go by. I had hope that things would work out for them in the end.

"No...I don't. I'm not even going to try and pretend that I know what it's been like for you. I...I know that what I've done is inexcusable...but I need you to know that I'm sorry. For everything," Nick's father admitted remorsefully.

Nick scoffed, obviously unmoved, "You shouldn't be apologizing to me, you should be apologizing to mom. But you're 8 years too late for that. You probably didn't know, but mom died from cancer."

That seemed to come as a shock to Nick's father. He truly looked horrified now, "M-Marian's dead?" The question was more a plea, a plea that perhaps he had misheard Nick. I could feel my heart tighten a little bit at the hurt and fear in his voice. Hearing that, I was left with no doubt that Nick's father had truly left his family for selfless reasons. It was obvious to anyone with ears that he had loved his wife.

"Yeah. But you weren't there for her, so how could you know?" Nick spat.

I was a bit shocked at Nick's obvious disregard for his father's feelings. I couldn't pass complete judgement yet—I had only just met Mr. Wilde—but I felt safe saying that he was a good person and I believed that he deserved a chance from Nick if he was asking for it. I was sure Nick would want that too, if only his own emotions weren't clouding his judgement, and I felt that it was my duty to prevent Nick from making a bad decision. "Mr. Wilde, would you mind waiting outside for a second? I need to speak with Nick."

Mr. Wilde looked at me as if it was the first time he had noticed me, although the look of shock hadn't yet left his face. "Of course, Miss Hopps. I-I'll be right outside." He quickly collected himself and, with that, he left the room and promptly shut the door behind him.

I looked at Nick as he began, "Can you believe—"

"Nick," I interrupted him, "Shut up." Nick was properly stunned that I had told _him_ to shut up. No doubt he thought he was completely in the right. Boy, was I about to prove him wrong. "Do you have _any_ idea how hypocritical you're being? First off, you _just_ got done telling me to forgive people for what they've done in the past if they want to change." Nick looked surly as ever but I pressed on. "This is the first time you've seen your father since you were five. I think you need to give him at least a chance to show you what he's here for." I could see Nick wanted to say something but I needed to make my next point first so I continued before he could make out the words. "Secondly, you're being hard on your dad for not being there for your mother, but if I remember correctly, you did the exact same thing as well."

Nick's mood instantly darkened and, while I knew I had just crossed a line, Nick had needed me to say that. I knew Nick wouldn't want to hold something against someone that he was guilty of himself. Regardless, I knew I had to say something quickly before Nick got too angry. "I know that I'm not being very fair, Nick—"

"No! You're not!" he interrupted angrily.

"But it's true," I continued on, heedlessly. "You can't be mad at him for doing the same thing you did. You should at least give him a chance to show you what he's really here for. If he really is sorry, you need to forgive him."

Nick was silent for several, long moments. "Judy, I don't know if I can."

I knew the emotional battle going on in Nick's head, having gone through it earlier myself. I also knew that he needed my help to get past it. "Yes you can, Nick. Tell me, would your mother want you to continue pushing your dad away? Or would she want you to forgive him?" I have Nick a small smile when I asked him the question.

Nick still appeared to be conflicted but I could see his brain working through what I'd said. After a year of knowing Nick, I had learned to trust him to see when he was in the wrong, so I was confident he would see his unjustness now. My trust was proven to be well placed when he sighed and relented, "You're right."

I smiled and gave him a quick peck to his muzzle. "I know."

Nick finally smiled again as well, "Where would we be without each other to keep ourselves in check?"

"Probably in constant fights with our families," I quipped.

Nick chuckled but he became more serious once again rather quickly. "Can you bring my dadback in here?" he asked me.

I nodded and got up off the bed, making my way over to the door, which I opened to find Nick's father waiting outside in the hallway, leaning against the wall. He had mastered his face, no longer showing any indication as to what he felt about the news of his ex-wife's death. "You can come back in now."

"Thank you," he said and followed me into the room, closing the door behind him. I went back over to Nick's bed and hopped back onto it, sitting beside him.

This time, Nick's father walked further into the room, approaching the side of Nick's bed. He didn't approach him all the way, almost like he was scared of Nick and didn't want to get too close to him. There was an uneasy tension in the air that refused to clear until Nick finally said, "Sorry," a little grumpily before letting out a long breath and then he just looked sad. "It was stupid of me to say that stuff about you. I let my emotions get the best of me and I shouldn't have done that."

"I don't blame you for what you said," Nick's dad said. "What I did to you and Marian…was inexcusable. But...I want you to know that I'm sorry for everything I've done. I…" He paused to clear his throat. "It hurts...knowing that Marian's...gone. I wish I could apologize to her, for leaving both of you like I did. But…" Another pause, and Nick's father finally closed the distance to be standing beside Nick's bed. "I want to try to make it up to you if I can, in any way."

Nick smiled genuinely. "I'd like that, Dad." For all of Nick's hesitation and anger he had shown not five minutes earlier, Nick was surprisingly willing and happy to forgive his dad. Not that I was complaining, but not many mammals would be able to do forgive someone they had hated for so long so easily. It made me even happier to have Nick as a mate. It was funny, every time I thought I couldn't be any happier to be with Nick, something would happen to prove me wrong.

Nick's smile faded and he adopted a more serious look. "Okay, you say you want to make it up to me. I'd like you to answer some questions I have."

Nick's dad nodded, "I expected as much. You can ask me anything you want."

Nick looked down at his lap to collect his thoughts before looking back at his dad again. "Well...first, I need to know, when you left—I know you left a note—but, why did you leave? Like _really_ why?"

"Well, you know what I said in the letter. About my drinking and gambling problems—which I've gotten over, by the way—and how I thought you'd be better off without me. That was true. I loved—and still do love—you two so much, and at the time I thought it would be best if I wasn't hurting you with my problems, that if I wasn't holding you back, you'd have better lives. But now...I know that I probably did more harm than good by leaving you, but I honestly thought I was doing to right thing. I know that doesn't necessarily excuse leaving you two, but—"

"I forgive you," Nick interrupted him. "Yeah, you made the wrong decision, but you did it for mom and I. That's the important part. Okay, next question: what have you been doing since you left? And how did you find me here?"

"That's two questions, but I'll answer them both. I found a job at an auto body repair shop. I've been working there for the past 20 or so years. It doesn't pay great, but it's enough when you're living by yourself in a crappy little apartment that probably breaks at least 20 different health codes." Nick's dad cracked a smile. "As to how I found you, I've sort of been following what you've been doing since you joined the ZPD. For a long time, I wanted to find you to explain to you what I did, but I had no way of finding you and I couldn't find Marian at the old house, so I figured she had moved and I resigned myself to the fact that I would never see you again. Then, I saw in the news that you had become an officer and I've been looking out for any news since. I didn't come at first because...well, I was scared of what your reaction might be. That you might hate me and just tell me to leave. When I saw that you had been shot, I finally decided to come see you."

Nick grinned mischievously, "Wait, so you've been stalking me for over a year now?" I couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. Nick was completely incorrigible.

"You could say that." Nick's dad grinned right back. "I must say, Nick, I thought you would have better manners than this. You've yet to introduce me to the beautiful lady, here. Not that she needs introducing, but still."

"Oh! Right, of course. I kind of forgot with all the 'excitement'," Nick said, using air quotes around the word 'excitement'. "Judy, as you know by now, this is my dad, Jonathan Wilde. Dad, this is Judy Hopps. First rabbit officer, my partner at the ZPD, and..." Nick looked at me questioningly for a second before a resolute expression solidified on his face, "and my mate."

I was wondering when Nick was going to mention that bit of information, although I didn't expect it to be quite so sudden. I looked to Nick's dad for a reaction, expecting pure horror and shock at the news. What I wasn't expecting was the absurdly large grin that adorned his face. "I know. It's all over the news." _Oh, right. How could I forget about that?_ I wondered. Honestly, after all the problems it's caused me, I expected it to be a permanent memory in my brain.

Suddenly, Mr. Wilde bent over and wrapped both Nick and I into a large hug. "I'm so happy for both of you. Not many mammals find someone they'd be willing to go through what you've gone through for." He pulled out of the hug and looked between Nick and I. "From what I know and what I've seen myself about you two, I think you're great for each other. And I can tell how much you care about each other just by looking at you. You don't need me to tell you this, but don't let anyone break you two apart, you were meant for each other."

I looked at Nick, who appeared to be tearing up a bit. "Thanks, Dad. That means a lot, more than you can imagine." I could see how hearing his dad, who he hadn't even seen in 28 years, saying he was happy for him could be so special. Especially after everything that had happened to us in the past week. _God, has it really only been a week?_ I mused. So much had happened already, it felt more like a year.

"Now," Nick's dad suddenly interrupted my thoughts, "I believe we have some more catching up to do," he said with another smile.

* * *

 **Nick POV**

7:04 a.m.

My dad had spent a good three and a half hours or so just talking with Judy and I before he finally had to leave for work. He had told me a bit about what his life was like, although it wasn't really anything special. Really, most of the time was spent by Judy and I recounting some of our many adventures as police officers. My dad was very interested in everything we had to say and I was very glad that Judy convinced me to give him a chance.

I had been fully prepared to toss him aside and out of my life for good had Judy not intervened. And by the way my dad was acting—especially towards Judy, who he seemed to absolutely adore—she had done the right thing. It was pretty strange how, after spending my entire life thinking my father was a horrible mammal, I was finally getting to see him for who he truly was: just a mammal who made a horrible mistake and regretted it. As much as I might not have wanted to admit it before, he wasn't any worse than any other mammal. Everyone makes mistakes, but at least he was trying to fix his mistake.

He had also earned extra points for what he said about my relationship with Judy. So few mammals I had met so far seemed to be okay with it, but those that did were good mammals, at least in my books. So, I was definitely looking forward to seeing my dad more in the near future.

Although, in my even nearer future, I was looking forward to some sleep. I had been up all night, and Judy even longer than me, and it was finally starting to catch up with me. But, just as I was about to drift off, I felt Judy moving around beside me and then felt her warmth disappear.

Groggily, I wondered what she could be doing. Surely, she was just as tired as I was. She deserved some rest after all the stress she had been through and being awake for so much of the night.

I opened my eyes just in time to see Judy stumble and then fall face first into the floor. And then remain motionless.

"Judy!?"

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) I know, I know. Again with the cliffhanger. That's three in a row now, but that's sort of just how things are playing out right now. Things should calm down a little bit next chapter, though, so don't worry. Well, not calm down, necessarily, but there won't be another cliffhanger.**

 **Now, I said that I would explain why this took me so long and why it's so short. Again, I apologize, but I have good reason. First off, during the writing of this chapter, classes started again so that's been eating up even more of my time. Combine that with soccer, which is in season now, and I've been left with very little time to actually write. I've done my best though, and this is what I've got. But don't think that this chapter is short because I have such little time. This was just where I wanted to end the chapter. I would have gone on longer if I hadn't felt that this was the right place to end it. I never really set a length I like to have my chapters go to, but a lot of them tend to average at around 5k to 6k words so that sort of became the normal. That being said, I'm not above going over or under that number to suit my purposes. Sorry if this disappoints anyone, but that's just the way stories work.**

 **Next up on the docket, I have something rather big. Before I say anything, I want to ask you to please read everything before you make any assumptions or judgements. So, for the past month or so, I've been having various ideas for different Zootopia stories running through my head. They just come to me while I'm writing, while I'm reading other fics, while I'm re-watching Zootopia (again), and when I'm lying in my bed trying to go to sleep. These ideas then nag me, and nag me, and nag me, begging to be put into writing. And I have to say, with the newest idea, I really want to give it a go. Let me say this first: in no way am I saying I will stop writing this story. I still plan on seeing it through to the end, but that doesn't mean I don't also want to write another story. What this would mean, is that both stories would probably take a little longer for uploads to come, but you would also be getting two stories instead of just the one. The thing is, I don't want to do this if most people don't want it. So, I want to propose two options. First, I begin writing the other story and, at the same time, continue this one so that they are both going simultaneously. And second, I hold off on the other story until the time when I have finished this one and only then do I start the new story. Before any of you go choosing either of these options, though, I bet there are a few of you that want to know what this story would even be about. So, let me explain.**

 **The story would be an AU, in which Judy is starting her freshman year at college, going to a school in Zootopia. Everything's going great for her, she just graduated from high school at the top of her class and once she's done with college, she'll be joining the Zootopia Police Academy to be a police officer. Nothing's going to distract her from achieving her dreams. Or so she thought, before she discovered that her criminal justice teacher, Mr. Wilde, was a bigger distraction than even her parents' incessant worrying. But the fluttery feeling she got in her chest whenever she was near him was insanely distracting. And, while she hated herself for getting that feeling from her teacher, she also loved it.**

 **Basically, Judy's a student, Nick's a teacher. Judy falls in love with Nick and a lot of stuff happens from there. I don't want to spoil anything, but that's the general idea. The story would be rated M once more, for the same reasons this one is ;) I already have a lot of stuff planned for this story and I would love to write it. But, the decision is yours. Please send me a PM or comment which choice you rather I make and I'll choose the majority. But either way, this story will be written, it's just a matter of when.**

 **Okay, now that I'm done with that, I wanted to acknowledge Nick's dad. I bet most of you were expecting a complete shouting match and really bad fight between Nick and his father. However, after everything Nick and Judy have been through, I felt they deserved a break. I also felt it would be sort of repetitive to now have Nick's dad hate Nick and Judy right after everything with Judy's parents. Plus, Nick had just gotten done telling Judy to forgive her parents. Something that Judy pointed out herself to Nick. I felt it would be overly hypocritical and redundant for Nick and his father to now ostracize each other. And, okay, I sort of like the idea of Nick having a nice father after all the things about his past I've forced on him. So don't be too disappointed by the lack of violence.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to also comment or PM me about this chapter, not just your preference on the whole 'Two stories or no' deal. I still want to hear about this chapter, so don't just forget about it after hearing what I've just told you. I will always want to hear what you guys have to say, so if you have anything to say, do it.**

 **I think that's all for this time. I hope to see you next time. Wishing you a good day, Jay.**


	16. Chapter 15-Gang Aft Agley

Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act III-Family

Chapter XV-Gang Aft Agley

 **(Author's Notes) Well, well, well, if it isn't another chapter. That's right, the 15th installment of** _ **Can A Fox Love A Bunny?**_ **is here. I suppose a good many of you have taken a look at this chapter's title and wondered what the actual fuck it means. I'm only saying this because it's not actually proper English, it's a line from a poem by a Scottish poet, Robert Burns. Said poem is titled** _ **To A Mouse**_ **, if you wish to check it out. But be warned, if you search for the original version of the poem, most of it is going to look just like this chapter's title—which I still haven't actually told you the meaning of yet. Basically, it means 'often go awry'.**

 **Now, enough talk, you probably want to get to the actual chapter since you've waited for so long. So, I'll leave you to it. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Peculiar I say, how so often the smallest, most seemingly insignificant details later unveil their faces as vital means for progression."

― Criss Jami, Healology

* * *

 **Nick POV**

7:20 a.m. Saturday

This was literally the most frustrating thing that could possibly have happened. Judy had just fallen unconscious and I was incapable of leaving my bed to check up on her.

As soon as she had failed to get up upon falling to the floor, I had hit the emergency button in the side of my bed. A nurse had come and, upon seeing Judy, called another nurse to help take Judy away to get checked out. That was about ten minutes ago and I hadn't heard anything since. I just felt so useless, not being able to do anything to help Judy. I didn't know what could have caused her to fall unconscious like that, but it couldn't be good and I wanted to do whatever I could to help her. As it was, though, I was able to do little more than sit and wait for someone to come and tell me what had happened to Judy.

It was kind of ironic, really. I, a police officer, was able to protect strangers I didn't know and would probably never even see again, and yet I couldn't do anything for my own mate when something happened to her.

Before that morbid train of thought could go any further, the door to my room swung open, revealing the same skunk nurse who had came to my room when Judy fell unconscious. I sat up in my bed in an instant, words rushing from my mouth before they even registered in my head, "Where's Judy? Is she alright? What happened to her?"

The nurse didn't speak until he was standing next to my bed. "Mr. Wilde, Ms. Hopps is awake and fine, although her head might be a little sore. She hit her head on the floor when she fell and she got knocked unconscious." I let out a sigh of relief and the nurse smiled.

I chuckled before saying, "Geez, Judy must be pretty unlucky. I didn't even know it was possible to trip so hard that you knock yourself out."

The nurse's smile faltered then and I felt a deep sense of foreboding in my chest. Of course, it couldn't have been that simple. "Well, she didn't exactly just trip." _What the hell does that mean?_ I wondered, though I didn't have to wait long for an answer. "You see—there really isn't any easy way to put this—Ms. Hopps, she's pregnant."

 _What?_

 _What!?_

 _WHAT!? WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY!?_

My mind was absolutely _losing its shit_ for about ten seconds before I calmed down enough to decide that I had definitely just misheard the nurse because there was _no way_ Judy could be pregnant.

My face must have still had the same, shocked look on it though, as the nurse continued speaking. "I realize that this may come as a bit of surprise to you. When Ms. Hopps fell earlier, she was feeling a little dizzy because of her pregnancy. That's why she tripped." _So much for mishearing the nurse._

My mind was suddenly filled by one thought: _How could Judy be pregnant? We used protection._ Then _,_ I suddenly had a flashback to Wednesday, and that's when I realized, _We didn't use a condom last time._ _Shit, Judy really is pregnant._

Once again, a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings and just about everything else flew through my head while I struggled to keep up with this new information. That was when the the full implications of the news really hit me. _I'm going to be a father._ I wasn't sure whether I should be ecstatic or terrified. Life has been so crazy recently and having children hadn't even crossed my mind. But having this thrust upon me suddenly, I was forced to think about it.

What would the children be like? Would I be a good father? How would this affect Judy and I? I was suddenly struck by a startling revelation: Judy and I weren't even married yet. And we were having a kid. I wasn't exactly worried about the stigma behind pregnancy outside of marriage—hell, I had become mates with a bunny only a couple hours after realizing I loved her—but everything would certainly be much simpler if we were married.

It was then that I remembered that the nurse was just standing there in the room while I had my mental crisis. I forced myself to bury my concerns about marriage for a moment. "Is there any way I can see Judy?" I decided to be the most prudent question to ask.

The nurse nodded, "There was no lasting damage from Ms. Hopps' fall, thankfully. I believe the doctors are in the process of releasing her at this moment. She should be here soon." I nodded in acknowledgment, my eyes darting around the room, not focusing on anything specifically. The nurse seemed to be able to notice my nervousness, as he spoke up once more, "We don't know much about the children, if that's what you're wondering. It's still a bit early in the pregnancy to really see anything." I just kept nodding, not sure what I would say if I opened my mouth. This was all just a bit much for me at the moment.

I was _seriously_ going to be a father. I just couldn't get over it. I was just getting my own father back in my life and now I was becoming one too? _My life is a whole new level of crazy_ , I determined.

The sound of the hospital room door opening brought my attention back to reality. I looked over to see Judy enter the room, followed by a pig Doctor. Judy gave me a sheepish, almost hesitant, smile and I immediately felt a chill race down my spine. Was she not happy that she was pregnant? Did she hate me now? I found myself fearing having to talk with Judy now.

She walked over to my bed and pulled up a chair. Neither of us said anything as we both sat there until I couldn't stand the silence any longer. "You're pregnant," I stated, unable to come up with anything else.

God, I sounded like such an idiot, and I waited for Judy to say as much but she didn't make fun of me for it. Instead, she responded with an equally simple, "Yeah, I am."

Silence threatened to swallow the room again so I decided to speak up again, "So, what does this mean for us?"

Judy's ears perked at this, "What do you mean?"

The fear I felt when Judy entered the room hadn't diminished a bit and it didn't help me from getting nervous when I hesitantly said, "I got you pregnant. It's just...I don't know, aren't you mad at me? This is big, and we haven't really gotten to talk about any of this and I just—"

I was cut off when a fluffy, grey paw pressed itself into my muzzle. "Nick, stop talking for a minute." I relaxed my jaw, but that did nothing to relieve the tension in the rest of my body. _Here it comes, she's going to yell at me for getting her pregnant and tell me how much she hates me now._ I closed my eyes and braced for impact, only to feel Judy's small form press itself into my side and hug me as best as possible while I was lying down.

I opened my eyes as Judy said, "Nick, I don't care that you got me pregnant. Sure, neither of us were expecting it, but that doesn't change anything. I still love you just as much as I did before I knew I was pregnant and I would be lying if I said I never wanted to have kits with you." My breath caught a little as I let a shimmer of hope break through to me. A shimmer that reminded me suspiciously of one bunny I knew… "Now we just get to do it a little earlier than I was planning."

My mind caught onto what she said at the end there. "Wait, 'planning'? Have you really thought about you getting pregnant that much already?"

She smiled shyly, "It may have crossed my mind a few times. It was more of a passing thought, though."

I smiled back, "Are you sure you're okay with this? I won't be upset if you're not," I assured. The last thing I wanted was to make Judy unhappy.

"I'm sure. Are you?" She returned, the concern I showed her just as evident in her face as well.

I responded instantly, "Yes." I was sure that there was no other possible answer. Judy and I were already life mates, and I loved her more than anything in the world. Having kits together only seemed right. And now, knowing that Judy felt the same, I found myself able to fully grasp the situation. And I was sure, more sure than I've ever been about anything in my life, that I was ready to have kits with Judy. "I am absolutely, 100%, completely sure."

The beaming smile she gave me could have out-glowed the sun itself.

* * *

There was a lot more for Judy and I to discuss but we both agreed it would be best if it waited for after Judy and I got some sleep. The recent events had only added onto the amount of time Judy and I had been without rest and we were both growing increasingly tired.

So, we both agreed to continue our talk later when we were both in better condition for such a conversation.

* * *

 **Judy POV**

6:13 p.m.

I woke up with my face pressed into the warm, russet fur of my fox's chest. The corners of my muzzle automatically lifted up into a smile as I deeply inhaled Nick's scent. My smile only grew larger when the memories of today's earlier events found their way back into my sleep-addled mind.

I was still slightly in shock about it all: I was going to be a mother. And Nick, the fox I loved more than anything else, was the father. I had already admitted to Nick that the thought of raising kits with him had crossed my mind once or twice. I still wasn't expecting to learn that I was pregnant quite yet, but I couldn't say that I was exactly upset that I was. I had plans to have kits with Nick anyway so I was just getting my wish a little sooner than I expected.

"I can feel you smiling down there, Fluff," I started slightly at the unexpected voice coming from the fox I was snuggling. "You're finally awake. I was starting to worry you'd slipped into some weird bunny hibernation."

I pulled my head away from Nick's chest to get a good look at his face as I giggled and said, "Bunnies don't hibernate, silly fox. I was just tired and you make a very nice fox-pillow." I buried my face back into the fluffy expanse of Nick's fur. "So soft."

That got Nick to laugh, causing him to wince in pain. Nick groaned, "Chest pains are the worst. I can't do anything more than normal breaths or it feels like I'm getting shot all over again."

"I'll be sure to have all the fun for you, then."

We lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before I finally sat up against the bed's headboard. Nick watched me as I adjusted myself until I was comfortable and said, "I'm guessing that this means we're having that talk now."

I nodded as I finally settled myself down. I began to stroke Nick's ears to give myself something to do as I began, "So…We've already established that we both want this. To have kits." Nick nodded his agreement and so I forged onward, "The doctor's said they think, since the kit—or more likely kits, because I'm a rabbit—are a mix between a fox and a bunny, the gestation period should be somewhere between the average for foxes and rabbits. They gave a rough estimate of 44 days and it's been three days since we...y'know…"

"Fucked?" Nick supplied.

I slapped the side of his head as he simultaneously giggled and winced from the pain in his chest his laughter was causing him. "You deserve the pain for being so crude."

"I'm only messing with you, Carrots. I hold our relationship in much higher regards than simply 'fucking'," Nick said sincerely.

I humphed before deciding to continue where I left off. "Anyway, that gives us a little over a month to prepare for kits. We need a place for them to stay and all of the necessary supplies."

Nick was silent as he contemplated what I had said. "There really isn't room for kits in my apartment, is there?" He finally asked. I shook my head. "Okay, we'll sell it then. We can find a nice place somewhere where we can raise our kits," He decided as if it were that simple.

I sighed, "It isn't that easy Nick. I don't think we make enough money with our cop salaries to buy a big enough place." I had been able to put this problem out of my mind before we had this conversation but there was no avoiding it now. And now I was starting to worry that there wouldn't be a solution.

Unexpected Nick to be in a similar state to me, but instead he just chuckled as lightly as he could to reduce the pain he felt. "You're forgetting about the money I told you I had left over from my hustling days."

I looked at Nick suspiciously. "Just how much money are we talking here?"

Nick looked around the room, as if expecting to see a mammal eavesdropping on us from under the bedside table, before sheepishly saying, "About a million."

My mouth dropped, "Did you ever buy _anything_?"

"Not really. My apartment was the only thing I ever splurged on. We should be able to get a good price from selling that, too, so we'll have even more money. We should have more than enough to get a nice place for us to raise our kits."

"I dunno, Nick. I'm not sure it'll feel right to use dirty money." My morals were having a hard time letting this one slide.

"I wouldn't call it 'dirty money', Carrots, not now that I payed off my taxes. The jumbo pops were always paid for, the lemmings willingly paid for the pawpsicles, and the rodents got their wood for construction. Sure, the wood was Popsicle sticks, but they performed the same job just as well. Nobody got hurt, I just made a little bit of extra money along the way."

I let that digest in my head a little. "Hm, I never thought about it like that. Well in that case, I guess there's no problem. We should probably start looking for places then, we don't have too much time."

Nick nodded his head in agreement. "Good, we got that settled. About supplies, that shouldn't be too big of a problem. We'll just have to make some runs to the store and pick up stuff we need. We can do that once I'm out of the hospital in a month. We should have about two weeks after that to get it all ready."

"Okay. So that leads us to the next thing. What are we going to do about watching the kits after they're born."

Nick's answer was instantaneous, "I can watch them. I won't keep you away from your job any longer than you have to be."

The kindness of the gesture warmed my heart, but I still hesitated, frowning slightly. "I can't ask you to leave the job either, though."

"Judy, you haven't wanted to do anything but be a police officer since you were just a little ball of fluff. I'm not going to be the one to end that dream," Nick said earnestly.

"Still," I really didn't want Nick to have to stay home all day, "I'd miss having you as a partner. I can't see being partnered with anyone else."

Nick didn't say anything, and neither did I, as we thought until I finally came up with something. "Why don't we ask your dad? Now that he's reentering your life I'm sure he'd want to spend time with his grandkits."

Nick nodded thoughtfully before saying, "Yeah, I'll talk to him later. And," Nick added meaningfully, "speaking of parents, you still need to talk to yours. Especially now that you're pregnant."

My mind jumped back to the argument with my father the other day. While I couldn't say that I wasn't still upset with my dad, Nick had definitely made his point yesterday: forgiveness is important for anything to happen moving forward. I had spent so much of my life trying to get other mammals over things that happened in the past yet I still made the same mistake. Once again, I was shown that I would be lost without Nick.

Plus, I would have to talk my parents to inform them I was pregnant, not just to forgive my dad.

"Okay, I'll call them now," I replied at length. I took my phone out of my pocket and mechanically pulled up the option to muzzletime my mother. I hesitated for just a second, taking the time to look at Nick one more time, before pressing the button to call.

The call picked up mid-way through the second ring, revealing the lower half of my mother's face and her neck. I couldn't help but grin at my mother's helplessness when it came to technology.

"Judy! Is everything alright, Dear?" my mother instantly questioned. It was just like her to display such concern for me, despite having checked up on me just the other day.

"I'm fine, mom." I released a giggle before saying, "As much as I like seeing your chin though, you might want to lift up the camera so I can see your whole face."

"Oh." The camera was lifted so I could see my mother's whole face. "How silly of me. What are you calling for, Dear?."

I took a look at the unfamiliar background of the room my mother was in before answering. It must have been a hotel my parents were staying at, I figured, which meant my they were probably still in Zootopia. "Mom, where are you?"

"Your father and I are just about to go to the train station to head back to Bunnyburrow. Why?"

"Don't go on the train yet!" I urged. "I need to talk with you...and dad."

"Oh," my mother seemed surprised for a second before a smile slid back onto her face, although it did not completely cover her slight curiosity. "Ok, would you like us to meet you back at the hospital, Hun?"

"Yeah, that'll be fine."

"Ok, we'll be there in about 20 minutes. See you soon. Love you!"

"I love you too, mom. I'll see you in 20 minutes," I responded, before ending the call.

I looked back up at Nick as I let my phone drop to my lap. "Okay, now we just gotta wait," he said before grinning mischievously. "In the meantime, I think a little extra snuggling is in order."

I was promptly pulled into Nick's chest as Nick settled himself down into a comfortable position on the bed. I only struggled for a few seconds before accepting my fate and relaxing back into Nick's soft fur to wait out the next 20 minutes.

* * *

 **(Author's Notes) Heh. So... I'm back. I'm also a horrible person. I know it's been over a month since the last chapter was uploaded and that is entirely my fault. I literally have no excuses because I had plenty of time where I could have been writing more of this chapter when I decided not to. I knew that I should be trying to get something out for you guys but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, so for that I'm sorry. I want to get the next chapter out in less time than this one came in but I'm hesitant to make any promises so I won't give a date. I do think that I'm out of the little no-writing-funk I was in, though, so I'll be writing more often. Plus, on top of that, the soccer season is getting close to ending so that will definitely give me even more time. I really don't want to go this long without another chapter again, though. Honestly, besides just knowing that you guys are waiting for an update, after a couple days away from the keyboard, I have trouble remembering details of what I've already wrote and I had to reread this chapter and parts of previous chapters several times just to make sure I got my facts straight and I'm still scared there are some inconsistencies I missed. If any of you noticed anything, please tell me so I can fix it.**

 **Other than that, I got feedback about writing a second story at the same time as this one. Overwhelmingly, people wanted me to wait until after this story was done to start the other story, so that's what I'll. I probably would have done this anyway, considering that it took me over a month to get this chapter out and adding another story I need to write would not help at all.**

 **I believe that is all I wanted to say in terms of announcements, so I'll leave you all to it. Until next time, wishing you a good day, Jay.**


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